University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


JACK  FLEMING  PRISON  COLLECTION 


-U 


1JJ>. 

•fib  s^  Jt  * 


THE  USE  AND   NEED 


OF 


THE  LIFE 


OF 


CARRY  A.  NATION 


WRITTEN  BY  HERSELF. 

REVISED  EDITION  TEN  THOUSAND  COPIES 
ILLUSTRATED 

PRICE,  .  $1.00 


Anyone  wishing  a  copy  of  this  book,  send  to  Author, 
Eureka  Springs,  Arkansas. 


COPYRIGHT    1908 
BY 

CARRY  A.  NATION 


All  rights  reserved 


TOPEKA 

F.  M.  STEVES   &  SONS 

1909 


PREFACE. 


In  all  ages  it  has  been  true  that  God's  messengers 
have  been  unpopular  because  they  are  sent  to  combat 
the  prevailing  evils  of  their  day  and  generation. 

Therefore,  Christ  said:  "Blessed  are  ye  when  men 
shall  revile  you,  and  persecute  you,  and  say  all  man 
ner  of  evil  against  you,  falsely,  for  My  sake.  Rejoice 
and  be  exceeding  glad  for  great  is  your  reward,  for 
so  persecuted  they  the  prophets  before  you."  (Matt. 
5:11,  12.) 

I  represent  the  distracted,  suffering,  loving  mother 
hood  of  the  World.  Who,  becoming  aroused  with  a 
righteous  fury  rebelled  at  this  torture. 

God  blessed  this  righteous  rage  and  gave  directions 
for  the  act,  that  cried  out!  Mothers  with  their  hands 
tied,  have  beheld  the  mutilation  of  their  sons  and 
daughters  till  Almighty  God  heard  their  groanings, 
and  sent  me  to  answer  the  prayers  of  those  grand  wo 
men—The  W.  C.  T.  U. 

At  the  age  of  almost  sixty-four,  I  feel  that  my  work 
is  almost  done— one  request  I  make  of  my  dear  sisters 
of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  is  to  turn  your  powerful  influence 
against  "lodgism,"  especially  against  the  paganism  and 
idolatry  called  Free-Masonry.  In  which  are  originat 
ed  the  roots  of  all  kinds  of  lusts. 

In  arriving  at  the  roots  of  sin,  I  find  that  the  people 
are  in  almost  perfect  ignorance  of  where  they  are.  I 
can  with  a  clear  conscience  say  that  one  of  the  most 
alarming"  compacts  with  immorality  is  the  Masonic 
Lodge.  There  is  not  one  obligation  that  is  not  intend- 


ed  to  generate  a  root  of  evil ;  there  is  not  one  of  their 
obligations  that  is  not  in  violation  of  God's  law.  This 
is  the  work  of  Satan  from  beginning  to  the  end.  There 
never  was  an  organization  of  a  Black  Hand  any  black 
er.  A  Mason  told  me  who  had  gone  all  the  way 
through  its  damnable  labyrinths  of  corruption.  That 
not  one  mason  in  fifty  understoon  what  masonry  is, 
but  if  he  did,  he  had  no  confidence  in  a  minister  in  the 
lodge,  that  he  was  there  for  graft  and  pull.  He  told 
the  whole  secret  of  lodgism.  The  lodge  is  hard  after 
the  ministry,  they  are  good  bait  for  them.  I  never 
asked  any  minister  but  what  said  he  had  been  ap 
proached  to  join — still  they  say  they  never  solicit.  The 
lodges  are  causing  the  church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
to  be  deserted,  and  I  beg  of  my  sisters  of  the  W.  C.  T. 
U.  to  use  your  powerful  influence  against  this  hellish 
work.  I  feel  that  not  many  years  can  I  warn,  rebuke 
and  exhort, -but  God  will  raise  up  deliverers  to  answer 
the  prayers  of  his  saints.  The  obligations  generate 
lying,  deprive  a  man  of  conscientious  convictions, 
makes  him  a  prey  to  designing  men,  is  a  herding  to 
gether  for  political  intrigue  and  is  the  most  potent 
cause  of  corruption  both  in  private  and  public  affairs. 

This  is  the  "falling-away"  that  is  to  precede  the 
coming  of  our  Lord.  Lodging  away  from  the  church. 
The  lodges  now,  take  the  place  of  the  ancient  "idola 
trous  groves." 

Get  the  writings  of  E.  Ronayne,  the  converted  Ma 
son,  from  the  National  Christian  Association  Chicago, 
111.  I  beg  you,  for  the  love  of  God,  and  Jesus  will 
bless  you.  Some  day  I  will  lie  under  the  shade  of  a 
tree,  and  I  want  these  words  on  the  marble  above  my 
dust, 

"She  hath  done  what  she  could." 


I  dedicate  this  book  to  the  women  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
I  owe  them  a  debt  of  gratitude. 

I  do  not  send  this  book  into  the  hands  of  the  public 
as  a  literary  production.  I  am  neither  an  experienced 
or  proper  writer  when  it  comes  to  diction.  There  are 
higher  merits  than  these.  Vile  books  can  have  these 
merits.  The  evidence  that  God  rules,  that  Christ  has 
all  power  and  authority,  both  in  heaven  and  in  earth, 
and  can  give  it  to  whom  He  will.  The  evidence  of 
miracles,  the  confusion  my  life  will  work  in  the  ranks 
of  infidelity  is  a  greater  merit  than  gramatical  sent 
ences  and  erudition.  My  life  is  proof  positive  of  the 
super-human  in  humanity  at  an  age  when  tendency  of 
pulpit,  pew,  college  and  even  the  fireside  is  leading 
away  from  the  dear  old  tried  and  true  Gospel.  This 
book  is  a  statement  of  facts,  proving  the  super-human 
engrafted  into  the  human,  and  will  bring  to  confusion 
the  infidel  and  skeptic  and  never  will  there  arise  in  this 
nation  a  contradiction  of  the  facts  in  this  book.  This 
thing  was  not  done  in  a  corner  and  IT  IS  WRITTEN. 

I  ask  that  each  one  of  my  readers  will,  utter  a  prayer 
that  this  book  may  be  used  of  God,  to  reclaim  the  lost, 
and  glorify  His  Almighty  Name!  "And  that  I  may 
finish  my  course  with  joy  and  the  ministry  which  I 
have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  (Acts  20:24.) 
CARRY  A.  NATION, 

Your  loving  "Home  Defender." 

Eureka,  Springs,  Arkansas. 


ENCOURAGEMENT  FOR  CHRISTIAN  WORKERS. 
"My  word  shall  not  return  unto  me  void." — Isa.  55:11. 

"When  saddened  by  the  little  fruit  thy  labors  seem  to  yield, 
And  when  no  springing  blade  appears  in  all  thy  barren  field ; 
When  those  whom  thou  dost  seek  to  win,  seem  hard,  and  cold, 

and  dead — 
Then,  weary  worker,  stay  thine  heart  on  what  the  Lord  hath 

said; 

And  let  it  give  new  life  to  hopes  which  seem  well-nigh  de 
stroyed — 
This  promise,  that,  "His  word,  shall  not  return  unto  Him 

void." 

For,  if,  indeed  it  be  His  truth,  thy  feeble  lips  proclaim, 
Then,  He  is  pledged  to  shadow  forth,  the  glory  of  His  name. 
True  this  at  present  may  be  veiled;  still  trustingly  abide, 
And  "cast  thy  bread,"  with  growing  faith,  upon  life's  rolling 

tide. 

It  shall,  it  will,  it  must  be  found,  this  precious  living  seed, 
Though  thou  may'st  grieve  that  thoughtless  hearts  take  no 

apparent  heed. 

'Tis  thine  to  sow  with  earnest  prayer,  in  faith  and  patient  love, 
And  thou  shalt  reap  the  tear-sown  seed,  in  glorious  sheaves 

above, 

Then  with  what  joy  ecstatic,  thou  wilt  stand  before  His  throne 
And  praise  the  Lord  who  used  thee  thus  to  gather  in  His  own ! 
Adoring  love  will  fill  thine  heart,  and  swell  thy  grateful  lays, 
That  thou,  hast  brought  some  souls  to  Christ,  to  His  eternal 

praise, 
That  thou  hast  helped  to  deck  His  brow,  with  blood-bought 

jewels  bright; 

Trophies  of  His  wondrous  love,  and  His  all-saving  might. 
Oh,  the  grandest  privilege  to  be  thus  used,  to  bring  them  in ! 
Oh,  grandest  joy  to  see  them  safe  beyond  the  reach  of  sin ! 
Then  mourn  not,  worker;  though  thy  work  shall  cause  thee 

many  a  tear. 
The  glorious  aim  thou  hast  in  view,  thy  saddened  heart  will 

cheer, 

Remember,  it  is  all  for  Him,  who  loveth  thee  so  well ; 
And  let  not  downcast  weary  thoughts,  one  moment  in  thee 

dwell, 

It  is  for  Him!  this  is  enough  to  cheer  thee  all  the  way; 
Until  thou  hearest  the  glad  "Well  done/  and  night  is  turned 

to  day."  — Author  Unknown. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MY  OLD  KENTUCKY  HOME  AND  WHAT  I  REMEMBER 
OF  MY  LIFE  UP  TO  THE  TENTH  YEAR 16 

CHAPTER  II. 

MY   EXPERIENCE   WITH    THE    NEGROES  AS   SLAVES. 

THEIR  SUPERSTITIONS. A  BEAUTIFUL  FAIRY  TALE.  35 

CHAPTER  III. 

MOVED    TO    WOODFORD    COUNTY,     KENTUCKY. ALSO 

MOVED     TO     MISSOURI. — SAVED     FROM       BEING     A 

THIEF. — MY       CONVERSION. GOING       SOUTH       AT 

OPENING   OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR. AN    INCIDENT   OF 

MY  GIRLHOOD  SCHOOL  DAYS. WHY  I  HAD  TO  BE 
LIEVE  IN  REVELATION. — SPIRITUALISM  OR  WITCH 
CRAFT 44 

CHAPTER  IV. 

MY    FIRST    MARRIAGE. A    BITTER    DISAPPOINTMENT. 

— MOTHER  GLOYD. — MY  DRUGGED  AND  WHISKEY 
MURDERED  HUSBAND. — LOSING  MY  POSITION  AS 
TEACHER. SECOND  MARRIAGE. — LOSS  OF  PROP 
ERTY. — KEEPING  HOTEL. — STRUGGLES  FOR  DAILY 

FOOD. — THE  AFFLICTIONS  OF  MY  CHILD. ANSWER 

TO   PRAYER 61 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  BAPTISM  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST. — REJECTED  AS  A 
BIBLE  TEACHER  IN  THE  METHODIST  AND  EPISCOPA 
LIAN  CHURCHES. — TAUGHT  IN  HOTEL  DINING- 
ROOM. — VISION,  WARNING  AND  BLESSING. EN- 


TERTAINING    ANGELS. THE    JEWS. PRAYER    FOR 

RAIN    AND    ANSWER. GOD'S     JUDGMENT    ON    THE 

'  WICKED. MOVED  TO   KANSAS. DEATH   OF   MOTH 
ER  GLOYD. — SERMON  OF  A  CATHOLIC  PRIEST 8M 

CHAPTER  VI. 

WHY  THE  MINISTER  AND  ELDERS  WITHDREW  FROM 
ME  IN  MEDICINE  LODGE  AND  LEFT  ME  IN  THE 

CHURCH. CLOSING      THE      DIVES      OF      MEDICINE 

LODGE. CORA    BENNETT    AND     WHY    SHE     KILLED 

BILLY    MORRIS. HER    RESURRECTION. RAIDING   A 

JOINT   DRUG    STORE 100 

CHAPTER  VII. 

SPIRITUAL  LEADINGS. — JESUS  A  CONSCIOUS  PRES 
ENCE  THREE  DAYS. — LOSS  OF  LIBERTY  BY  COM 
PROMISING. THE  PRICE  PAID  TO  BE  REINSTATED. 

DISGRACE  TO  BE  A  MILLIONAIRE 115 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  DIVINE  CALL. — THE  JOINT  DRUGGIST  OF  MED 
ICINE  LODGE. BEER  A  POISON. — DOCTORS  MAKE 

DRUNKARDS. SMASHING    AT     KIOWA. — ATTITUDE 

OF    SOME    W.    C.    T.    U/S    OF    KANSAS. — SUIT    FOR 

SLANDER. SMASHING  AT  WICHITA. — CONSPIRACY 

OF  THE  REPUBLICANS  TO  PUT  ME  IN  THE  INSANE 
ASYLUM. — SUFFERING  IN  JAIL  AT  WICHITA. — 
SLANDERS  FROM  THE  RUM-SOAKED  PAPERS  OF 
KANSAS .126 

CHAPTER  IX. 

OUT  OF  JAIL  FIRST  TIME. — EGGS  AND  STONES. — 
SMASHING  STILLING'S  JOINT  AT  ENTERPRISE, 

KANSAS. WHIPPED    BY    HIRED   PROSTITUTES. — 

PLOT  AT  HOPE,  KANSAS  BY  HOTEL  KEEPER  AND 
JOINTIST  TO  POISON  AND  SLUG  ME. — MY  HAND 


BROKEN     AND     HANDCUFFS     USED. FAINT     FROM 

HUNGER. — HOW  I  CAME  TO  USE  HATCHETS  AS 
SOUVENIRS 159 

CHAPTER  X. 

LEGAL  STATUS  OF  PROHIBITION  AND  JOINT  SMASH 
ING 181 

CHAPTER  XL 

MY  TRIAL  FOR  DIVORCE. THE  LICENSED  RUM  TRAF 
FIC  THE  CAUSE  OF  SO  MANY  DIVORCES. — DIFFER 
ENT  TIMES  AND  PLACES  I  HAVE  BEEN  IN  JAIL.- — 

AT     THE     CAPITOL     OF     CALIFORNIA. WIDE     OPEN 

TREASON. AT      THE      UNIVERSITY      OF      TEXAS. 

WOOLLEY     CLUB     AT     ANN     ARBOR,     MICHIGAN. 

CATHOLIC   PRIEST  AND   CIGARETTES 187 

CHAPTER  XII. 
WOMAN'S  MISSION  FROM  BIBLE  STANDPOINT 200 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  RIGHTS  OF  MOTHERS  TO  PROTECT  THEIR  CHIL 
DREN 205 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

CHRISTIAN   EXPERIENCE 211 

CHAPTER  XV. 

SPIRITUAL   AUTHORITY   FOR    MY    CHRISTIAN    WORK..  220 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

IN  NEBRASKA. WHAT  I  DID  WITH  THE  FIRST  MONEY 

I  GAVE  TO  THE  LORD. AT  CONEY  ISLAND. WHAT 

I  SAID    OF    MR.    MCKINLEY. IN    CALIFORNIA. 

"CRIBS"  AT  LOS  ANGELES. — ARREST  IN  SAN  FRAN 
CISCO. CONDEMNED  BY  SOME  MINISTERS. WHIS 
KEY  AND  TOBACCO  ADVERTISEMENTS. .  .  .  233 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

MY  VISIT  TO  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. ARRESTED  IN  THE 

SENATE  CHAMBER. — TAKEN  OUT  BY  OFFICERS. — 
THE  VICES  OF  COLLEGES,  ESPECIALLY  YALE. — 
ROOSEVELT  A  DIVE-KEEPER 246 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

PROHIBITION    OR  ABOLITION. WHAT   IT    MEANS 254 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
DR.  MCFARLAND'S  PROTEST. — KICKED  AND  KNOCKED 

DOWN  BY  CHAPMAN  OF  BANGOR  HOUSE. — MED 
DLING  WITH  THE  DEVIL. TIMELY  WARNING  TO 

OUR  BOYS  AND  GIRLS. — BRUBAKER  OF  PEORIA. — 
WITCHCRAFT. — ARRESTED  AND  PUT  IN  JAIL  IN 
PHILADELPHIA. — THIRD  TIME  IN  JAIL  IN  PITTS- 
BURG 260 

CHAPTER  XX. 

WHY  I  WENT  ON  THE  STAGE. — VICE  OF  TOBACCO.  .  .  .270 

CHAPTER  XXL 

TRIP  ON   FALL  RIVER   STEAMBOAT,   FROM   BOSTON   TO 

NEW  YORK. OFFICERS  TRIED  TO  LOCK  ME  IN  MY 

STATEROOM. SEQUEL  SATISFACTORY,  MADE  PLEAS 
ANT  TRIP  AND  MANY  FRIENDS 278 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

TRIP  TO   CANADA,   CORDIAL  RECEPTION. RETURN   TO 

CHICAGO  TO  FILL  ENGAGEMENT. — SECOND  VISIT  TO 
CANADA. — TRIP  TO  MARITIME  PROVINCES. — VISIT 
CLUB  IN  CHARLOTTETOWN. — PREJUDICE  AGAINST 
ME  OWING  TO  MALICIOUS  REPORTS. — SPOKE  IN 
PARLIAMENT  IN  FREDERICTON. — VISIT  TO  SIDNEY. 
— SCOTT  ACT.— MY  ARREST  AND  RELEASE. — EPI 
SODE  IN  JAIL ,  281 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

COWARDLY  ASSAULT  BY  SALOON  KEEPER  G.  R.  NEIGH 
BORS  OF  ELIZABETHTOWN,  KY.— APATHY  OF  OF 
FICERS,  BUT  PEOPLE  MUCH  MOVED  BY  OUTRAGE, 
LECTURED  AFTERWARDS,  THO'  VERY  FAINT  AND 

WEAK  FROM  LOSS  OF  BLOOD. CIGARETTE  SMOKING 

IN    HIGH    PLACES   DISCUSSED   WITH    MISS  GASTON, 
PRESIDENT  NATIONAL  ANTI-CIGARETTE  LEAGUE. .  .  285 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

SISTER  LUCY  WILHOITE's  VISION. — WRITES  TO  ME 
FOR  CO-OPERATION  IN  MAKING  RAID  ON  MAHAN^S 
WHOLESALE  LIQUOR  HOUSE. — HESITATE  ON  AC 
COUNT  PRESSING  ENGAGEMENTS  AHEAD. — AN 
SWERS  THE  CALL. RAID  SET  FOR  29TH. W.  C.  T. 

U.    CONVENTION    IN   SESSION. FOUR   SISTERS   AND 

MYSELF  START  FROM  M.  E.  CHURCH. A  CALL  FOR 

THE   POLICE   BEFORE   WE   COULD   EFFECT     AN     EN 
TRANCE. TAKEN  TO  JAIL  IN  HOODLUM  WAGON. — 

UNHEALTHY  CONDITION  OF  CELL. IN  JAIL  FROM 

FRIDAY     TO      MONDAY. GOOD     OLD    PENTECOSTAL 

TIME     ON     SUNDAY.— COUNTY     JAIL     MONDAY. 

TRIAL   WEDNESDAY. JAIL   SENTENCE   AND   FINES. 

— APPEAL  TO  DISTRICT  CUORT 289 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

SKETCH  BY  WILL  CARLTON,  IN  HIS  MAGAZINE, 
"EVERYWHERE/'  .296 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

ALCOHOL   NOT   A   DRINK. NOT     A     FOOD. — DR.    N.    S. 

DAVIS   OF   CHICAGO. — NANSEN   OF   NORWAY. — NOT 

A    MEDICINE. HOW    IT   ACTS   ON     THE     HEART. 

DOES    NOT    ALLAY     PAIN. CAUSES     DISEASE. AT- 


WATER'S  ERROR. — SCIENTIFIC  TESTIMONY  ON 
BEER 30? 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

MOVED  TO  OKLAHOMA. PUBLISHERS  OF  THE  "HOME 

DEFENDER"  OBTAINING  MONEY  UNDER  FALSE  PRE 
TENSES. MY  ARREST  IN  HOT  SPRINGS,  ARK. AR 
REST  IN  DENVER. ONE  OF  THE  DEEPEST  SORROWS 

OF   MY  LIFE 319 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

WASHINGTON. SPEAKING  IN   CONVENTION    HALL. 

PICTURE  OF  THE  HOME  GIVEN  ME  BY  MR.  DON 
SANFORD. WASHINGTON  LAWLESSNESS. ARREST 
ED  AND  FINED. CONFINED  IN  WORK  HOUSE. 

PROVIDENTIALLY    RELEASED 328 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

HOLDING    UP    MY    JULY    ISSUE    OF    THE    HATCHET. 

TRIAL  AND  ARREST  IN  DALLAS,  TEXAS. A  TRIBUTE 

FROM  AN  OLD  CITIZEN  OF  CHATTANOOGA. DUR 
HAM  FACTORY  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA  AND  EDUCAT 
ING  METHODIST  PREACHERS. THE  DEADLY  CIGAR 
ETTE 343 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
MASONRY  AS  IT  IS. 

MASONRY  AS  IT  IS. COMPACT  OF  EVIL.— FOE  TO  WO 
MAN. EXPERIENCES  OF  A  ROYAL  ARCH   MASON. 

SECRECY  AND  SIN 356 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

MY  TRIP  TO  SCOTLAND  AND  ENGLAND. MY  HOME  IN 

THE    OZARKS. FUTURE    PLANS 385 

POETRY   ,  ..405 


The  Use  and  Need  of  the  Life  of 
Carry  A.  Nation. 


Written  by  Herself. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MY  OLD   KENTUCKY    HOME   AND   WHAT   I   REMEMBER  OF 
MY   LIFE   UP   TO  THE  TENTH   YEAR. 

I  was  born  in  Garrard  County,  Kentucky,  Nov.  25, 
18-iG.  My  father's  farm  was  on  Dick's  river,  where 
the  cliffs  rose  up  hundreds  of  feet,  with  great  ledges 
of  rocks,  under  which  I  used  to  sit.  There  were  many 
large  rocks  scattered  around,  some  as  much  as  fifteen 
feet  across,  with  holes  that  held  water,  where  my 
father  salted  his  stock,  and  I,  a  little  toddler,  used  to 
follow  him.  On  the  side  of  the  house  next  to  the  cliffs 
was  what  we  called  the  "Long  H-ouse,"  where  the 
negro  women  would  spin  and  weave.  There  were 
wheels,  little  and  big,  and  a  loom  or  two,  and  swifts 
and  reels,  and  winders,  and  everything  for  making 
linen  for  the  summer,  and  woolen  cloth  for  the  winter, 
both  linsey  and  jeans.  The  flax  was  raised  on  the 
place,  and  so  were  the  sheep.  When  a  child  5  years 
old,  I  used  to  bother  the  other  spinners.  I  was  so 
anxious  to  learn  to  spin,  so  my  father  had  a  small 
wheel  made  for  me  by  a  wright  in  the  neighborhood. 
I  was  very  jealous  of  my  wheel,  and  would  spin  on  it 


18  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

for  hours.  The  colored  women  were  always  indul 
gent  to  me,  and  made  the  proper  sized  rolls,  so  I  could 
spin  them.  I  would  double  the  yarn,  and  then  twist 
it,  and  knit  it  into  suspenders,  which  was  a  great 
source  of  pride  to  my  father,  who  would  display  my 
work  to  visitors  on  every  occasion. 

The  dwelling  house  had  ten  rooms,  all  except  one 
on  the  ground  floor.  I  have  heard  my  father  say  that 
it  was  a  hewed-log  house,  weather-boarded  and  plas 
tered.  The  room  that  possessed  the  most  attraction 
for  me  was  the  parlor,  because  I  was  very  seldom  al 
lowed  to  go  in  it.  I  remember  the  large  gold-leaf 
paper  on  the  walls,  its  bright  brass  dogirons,  as  tall  as 
myself,  and  the  furniture  of  red  plush,  some  of  which 
is  in  a  good  state  of  preservation,  and  the  property  of 
my  half-brother,  Tom  Moore,  who  lives  on  "Camp 
Dick  Robinson,"  in  Garrard  County.  (This  Dick  Rob 
inson  was  a  cousin  of  my  father's.)  There  were  two 
sets  of  negro  cabins ;  one  in  which  Betsey  and  Henry, 
who  were  man  and  wife,  lived,  Betsey  being  the  nurse 
of  all  the  children.  Then  there  was  aunt  Mary  and 
her  large  family,  aunt  Judy  and  her  family  and  aunt 
Eliza  and  her's.  There  was  a  water  mill  behind  and 
almost  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  house,  where  the 
corn  was  ground,  and  near  that  was  the  overseer's 
house. 

Standing  on  the  front  porch,  we  looked  through  a 
row  of  althea  bushes,  white  and  purple,  and  there  were 
on  each  side  cedar  trees  that  were  quite  large  in  my 
day.  There  was  an  old-fashioned  stile,  instead  of  a 
gate,  and  a  long  avenue,  as  wide  as  Kansas  Avenue, 
in  Topeka,  with  forest  trees  on  either  side,  that  led 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  19 

down  to  the  big"  road,  across  which  uncle  Isaac  Dunn 
lived.  Mr.  Dunn  was  a  widower  with  two  children, 
Sallie  and  Dave.  I  remember  Sallie  had  very  many 
different  kinds  of  dolls  and  I  used  to  love  to  go  down 
to  play  with  them. 

To  the  left  of  our  house  was  the  garden.  I  have 
read  of  the  old-fashioned  garden,  the  garden  written 
about  and  the  gardens  sung  about,  but  I  have  never 
seen  a  garden  that  could  surpass  the  garden  of  my  old 
home.  Just  inside  the  pickets  were  bunches  of  bear 
grass.  Then,  there  was  the  purple  flag,  that  bordered 
the  walks ;  the  thyme,  coriander,  calamus  and  sweet 
Mary ;  the  jasmine  climbing  over  the  picket  fence ;  the 
syringa  and  bridal  wreath ;  roses  black,  red,  yellow 
and  pink ;  and  many  other  kinds  of  roses  and  shrubs. 
There,  too,  were  strawberries,  raspberries,  gooseber 
ries  and  currants ;  damson  and  greengages,  and  apri 
cots,  that  grew  on  vines.  I  could  take  some  time  in 
describing  this  beautiful  spot. 

At  the  side  of  the  garden  was  the  family  burying 
ground,  where  the  gravestones  were  laid  flat  on  ma 
sonry,  bringing  them  about  three  feet  from  the 
ground.  These  stones  were  large,  flat  slabs  of  marble, 
and  I  used  to  climb  up  on  top  and  sit  or  lie  down,  and 
trace  the  letters  or  figures  with  my  fingers.  I  visited 
this  graveyard  in  1903.  The  eight  graves  were  there 
in  a  good  state  of  preservation,  with  not  a  slab  broken, 
although  my  grandfather  was  buried  there,  ninety 
years  ago.  My  father  had  a  stone  wall  built  around 
these  graves  for  protection,  when  he  left  Kentucky. 
I  am  glad  that  family  graveyards  have  given  place  to 
public  cemeteries,  for  this  place  has  changed  hands 


20  THE   USE  AND   NEED   OF 

many  times  and  this  graveyard  is  not  pleasant  for  the 
strangers  who  live  there.  We,  who  are  interested  in 
these  sacred  mounds,  feel  like  intruders  having  the 
homes  of  our  dead  with  strangers. 

The  memories  of  this  Kentucky  home  date  from  the 
time  I  was  three  years  old.  It  seems  remarkable,  but 
my  mother  said  an  incident  occurred  when  I  was  three 
years  old,  and  I  remember  it  distinctly.  I  was  stand 
ing  in  the  back  yard,  near  the  porch.  Mr.  Brown,  the 
overseer,  was  in  the  door  of  my  half-brother  Richard's 
room,  with  my  brother's  gun  in  his  hands.  At  the  end 
of  the  porch  was  a  small  room,  called  the  "saddle 
room."  A  pane  of  glass  was  out  of  the  window  and 
a  hen  flew  out,  cackling.  Aunt  Judy,  the  colored  wo 
man,  went  in  to  get  the  egg,  and  walked  in  front  of 
Mr.  Brown,  who  raised  the  gun  and  said :  "Judy,  I 
am  going  to  shoot  you,"  not  thinking  the  gun  was 
loaded. ~  It  went  off,  and  Aunt  Judy  fell.  Mr.  Brown 
began  to  wring  his  hands  and  cry — in  great  agony.  I 
screamed  and  kept  running  around  a  small  tree  near 
by.  This  was  Sunday  morning.  Runners  were  sent 
for  the  doctor,  and  for  my  parents,  who  were  at 
church.  Aunt  Judy  got  well,  but  had  one  eye  out; 
we  could  always  feel  the  shot  in  her  forehead.  She 
was  one  of  the  best  servants,  and  a  dear  good  friend 
to  me.  She  used  to  bring  two  of  her  children  and 
come  up  to  my  room  on  Sundays  and  sit  with  me,  say 
ing,  she  did  not  want  to  be  in  the  cabin  when  ''strange 
niggers  were  there."  This  accident  had  disfigured  her 
face  and  she  always  avoided  meeting  people.  I  can 
see  her  now,  with  one  child  at  her  breast,  and  another 
at  her  knee,  with  her  hand  on  its  head,  feeling  for 


MY  OLD  HOME  WHERE  I  WAS  BORN   IN  GARRARD  CO.,  KENTUCKY. 


THE  OLD  GRAVE  YARD  NEAR  BY,  AND   MY  GRANDFATHER^  GRAVE. 


22  THE   USE  AND   NEED   OF 

"buggers."  I  was  very  much  attached  to  this  woman 
and  wanted  to  take  care  of  her  in  her  old  age.  I  went 
to  Southern  Texas  to  get  her  in  1873.  I  found  some 
of  her  children  in  Sherman,  Texas,  but  aunt  Judy  had 
been  dead  six  months.  She  had  said  she  wanted  to 
live  with  me. 

My  mother  always  left  her  small  children  in  the  care 
of  the  servants.  I  was  quite  a  little  girl  before  I  was 
allowed  to  eat  at  "white  folk's  table."  Once  when  my 
mother  had  been  away  several  days  and  came  home 
bringing  a  lot  of  company  with  her,  I  ran  out  when 
I  saw  the  carriages  driving  up,  and  cried :  "Oh,  ma, 
I  am  so  glad  to  see  you.  I  don't  mind  sleeping  with 
aunt  Eliza,  but  I  do  hate  to  sleep  with  uncle  Josh."  I 
was  quite  dirty,  and  some  of  the  colored  servants 
snatched  me  out  of  sight.  Aunt  Eliza  was  aunt  Judy's 
half-sister,  her  father  was  a  white  man.  She  was 
given  to  my  father  by  my  grandmother,  was  very 
bright  and  handsome,  and  the  mother  of  seventeen 
children.  My  grandmother  remembered  aunt  Eliza  in 
her  will,  giving  her  some  linen  sheets,  furniture,  and 
other  things. 

One  of  aunt  Eliza's  sons  was  named  Newton.  My 
father  had  a  mill  and  store  up  in  Lincoln  County,  near 
Hustonsville.  Newton  used  to  do  the  hauling  for  my 
father  with  a  large  wagon  and  six-mule  team.  He 
would  often  do  the  buying  for  the  store  and  take 
measurements  of  grain,  and  my  father  trusted  him  im 
plicitly.  -  Once  a  friend  of  my  father  said  to  him,  as 
Newton  was  passing  along  the  street  with  his  team : 
"George,  I'll  give  you  seventeen  hundred  dollars  for 
that  negro."  Father  said:  "If  you  would  fill  that 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  23 

wagon-bed  full  of  gold,  you  could  not  get  him."  A 
few  weeks  after  that  Newton  died.  I  remember  see 
ing  my  father  in  the  room  weeping,  and  remember  the 
chorus  of  the  song  the  negroes  sang  on  that  occasion : 
"Let  us  sit  down -and  chat  with  the  angels." 

The  husband  of  aunt  Eliza  was  ''uncle  Josh,"  a  small 
Guinea  negro,  as  black  as  coal  and  very  peculiar.  I 
always  stood  in  awe  of  him,  as  all  the  children  did.  I 
remember  one  expression  of  his  was :  "Get  out  of  the 
way,  or  I'll  knock  you  into  a  cocked  hat."  The  reason 
I  had  to  sleep  with  aunt  Eliza,  was  that  Betsy,  my 
nurse,  was  only  ten  years  older  than  I  was.  Betsy  was 
a  girl  given  by  my  grandfather  Campbell  to  my  mother 
when  my  father  and  mother  were  married.  My 
mother  was  a  widow  when  she  married  my  father. 
She  had  married  Will  Caldwell,  a  son  of  Capt.  Cald- 
well,  who  died  in  Sangamon  County,  111.,  he  had  freed 
his  negroes  and  moved  there  from  Kentucky.  Will 
Caldwell  died  after  three  years,  leaving  my  mother 
with  two  children.  Both  of  them  died  at  my  grand 
father  Compbell's  in  Mercer  County,  Kentucky,  be 
fore  she  married  my  father. 

I  was  about  four  years  old  when  my  grandmother 
Moore  died.  She  lived  on  a  farm  in  Garrard  County, 
about  two  miles  from  my  father.  She  used  to  ride  a 
mare  called  "Kit."  Whenever  we  would  see  grandma 
coming  up  the  avenue,  the  whole  lot  of  children,  white 
and  black,  ran  to  meet  her.  She  always  carried  on  the 
horn  of  her  saddle  a  handbag,  then  called  a  "reticule," 
and  in  that  she  always  brought  us  some  little  treat, 
generally,  a  cut  off,  of  a  loaf  of  sugar,  that  used  to 
be  sold  in  the  shape  of  a  long  loaf  of  bread.  We 


24  THE   USE  AND    NEED  OF 

would  follow  her  down  to  the  stile,  where  she  would 
get  off,  and  delight  us  all  by  taking  something  good 
to  eat  out  of  the  "reticule."  We  would  tie  old  Kit, 
and  then  take  our  turn  in  petting  the  colt.  The  first 
grief  I  remember  to  have  had  was  when  I  heard  of 
the  death  of  my  grandmother.  I  wanted  to  see  her 
so  badly  and  go  to  the  funeral,  and  for  weeks  I  would 
go  off  by  myself  and  cry  about  her  death.  I  used  to 
love  to  lie  and  sit  on  her  grave  at  the  back  of  the 
garden.  Older  people  often  forget  the  sorrows  of 
childhood,  but  I  felt  keenly  the  injustice  of  not  being 
allowed  to  see  her  dead  face  and  do  so  to  this  day. 

We  left  that  home,  when  I  was  about  five  years  old, 
for  a  place  about  two  miles  from  Danville,  Kentucky. 
The  house  had  a  flat  roof,  the  first  one  built  in  that 
county ;  it  had  an  observatory  on  top.  Our  nearest 
neighbors  were  Mr.  Banford's  family,  Mr.  Caldwell, 
and  Mr.  Spears.  Dr.  Jackson  and  Dr.  Smith  were 
both  our  physicians,  and  my  father  used  to  hire  his 
physicians  by  the  year.  Dr.  Jackson  was  a  bachelor. 
He  said  he  was  going  to  wait  for  me,  and  I  believed 
him.  I  rememjber  visiting  Dr.  Smith  in  Danville  and 
seeing  a  human  skeleton  for  the  first  time.  I  also  saw 
leeches  he  used  in  bleeding.  I  remember  when  one 
of  my  little  brothers  was  born,  they  told  me  Dr.  Smith 
found  him  in  a  hollow  stump.  After  that  I  spent 
hours  out  in  the  woods  looking  in  hollow  stumps  for 
babies.  How  wrong  for  parents  to  tell  children  false 
hoods  about  their  birth. 

My  mother's  father  was  James  Campbell,  born  in 
King  and  Queens  County,  Virginia.  His  parents  were 
from  Scotland.  He  was  married  twice.  Bv  his  first 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  25 

wife  he  had  two  sons,  William  and  Whitaker.  Wil 
liam  married  and  died  young,  left  one  child,  a  daugh 
ter.  Uncle  "Whit"  lived  to  be  an  old  man.  The  sec 
ond  time  my  grandfather  married  a  Miss  Bradshaw. 
He  had  four  sons  and  six  daughters.  I  used  to  stay 
at  grandmam's  with  my  aunt  Sue.  When  my  mother 
would  take  long  trips  or  visits,  she  would  send  the 
younger  children,  with  my  nurse  Betsy,  over  there  to 
stay  until  she  returned.  The  only  cross  word,  that  my 
grandfather  ever  gave  me,  was  when  I  was  running 
upstairs  and  stumbled  and  he  said :  "Jump  up,  and  try 
it  again,  my  daughter."  I  was  so  humiliated  by  the 
rebuke  that  I  hid  from  him  for  several  days.  He  was 
a  Baptist  deacon  for  years.  When  gentlemen  called 
on  my  aunts,  he  would  go  in  the  parlor  at  10  o'clock 
in  the  evening  and  wind  the  big  clock.  He  would  then 
ask  the  young  men  if  he  should  have  their  horses  put 
up..  This  was  the  signal  to  either  retire  or  leave.  He 
never  went  to  bed  until  everyone  else  had  retired.  My 
grandfather  lived  in  Mercer  County,  not  far  from 
Harrodsburg.  My  grandmother  was  an  invalid  for 
years,  and  kept  her  room.  My  aunt  Sue  was  house 
keeper.  In  the  dining  room  was  a  large  fireplace.  The 
teakettle  was  brought  in  at  breakfast,  water  was  boiled 
by  being  set  on  a  "trivet,"  over  some  coals  of  fire.  ,  > 
Every  morning  my  grandfather  would  put  in  a  glass 
some  sugar,  butter  and  brandy,  then  pour  hot  water 
over  it,  and,  while  the  family  were  sitting  around  the 
room,  waiting  for  breakfast,  he  would  go  to  each,  and 
give  to  those  who  wished,  a  spoonful  of  this  toddy, 
saying:  "Will  you  have  a  taste,  my  daughter,  or  my 
son?"  Pie  never  gave  but  one  spoonful,  and  then  he 


26  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

drank  what  was  left  himself.  This  custom  was  never 
omitted.  I  remember  the  closet  where  the  barrel  of 
spirits  was  kept.  He  used  to  give  it  out  to  the  colored 
people  in  a  pint  cup  on  Saturdays.  Persons  have  often 
said  to  me:  "Our  grandfathers  used  it,  and  they  did 
not  get  drunk."  Truly,  "we  are  reaping  what  they  have 
sown."  They  sowed  to  the  wind  and  we  are  reaping 
the  whirlwind. 

After  breakfast,  the  colored  man,  Patrick,  who  wait 
ed  on  my  grandfather,  would  bring  out  a  horse  and 
grandfather  would  ride  around  the  place.  He  was 
very  fond  of  hunting,  and  always  kept  hounds.  My 
father  would  tell  this  joke  on  him.  When  "Daddy" 
Rice  was  baptizing  him  in  Dick's  River  grandpa  said: 
"Hold  on,  Father  Rice,  I  hear  Sounder  barking  on  the 
cliffs."  Sounder  was  his  favorite  hound.  There  was 
a  Mr.  Britt  who  was  a  great  fox  hunter,  wrho  lived 
near  my  grandfather,  and  whose  wife  was  opposed  to 
his  hunting.  One  morning  my  grandfather  went  by 
Mr.  Britt's  house  winding  his  hunter's  horn.  Mr. 
Britt  jumped  for  his  trousers  and  so  did  Mrs.  Britt, 
who  got  them  first  and  threw  them  into  the  fire.  An- 
. other  time,  quite  a  party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  had 
gathered  at  my  grandfather's  place,  to  go  on  a  fox 
hunt.  Grandfather  went  upstairs  hurriedly  to  put  on 
his  buckskin  suit.  He  jumped  across  the  banisters  to 
facilitate  matters,  lost  his  balance  and  tumbled  down 
into  the  hall  where  the  company  was  waiting.  He  did 
not  get  hurt,  it  was  a  great  joke  on  him.  When  he 
was  a  young  man  he  learned  carpentering  in  company 
with  Buckner  Miller,  who  was  of  the  same  trade. 
These  two  young  men  came  to  Kentucky  from  Vir- 


MY   FATHER,   GEO.    MOORE. 


28  iHE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

ginia,  on  horseback,  seeking  their  fortunes.  They  had 
many  experiences,  always  endeavoring  to  stop  at 
houses  for  the  night  where  there  were  young  ladies. 

My  father's  name  was  George  Moore,  and  his 
father's  name  was  Martin  Moore.  He  was  of  Irish 
descent.  He  had  two  brothers  who  died  when  the 
cholera  raged  in  Kentucky,  about  1842.  One  of  them, 
William  Moore,  married  a  Miss  Blackburn  of  Ver 
sailles,  Kentucky.  He  had  several  sisters,  some  of 
them  died  young. 

Mark  Antony,  in  his  rhemorial  address  over  the 
body  of  Caesar,  said  that  Brutus  was  Caesar's  angel. 
If  I  ever  had  an  angel  on  earth,  it  was  my  father.  I 
have  met  many  men  who  had  lovable  characters,  but 
none  equaled  him  in  my  estimation.  He  was  not  a 
saint,  but  a  man — one  of  the  noblest  works  of  God. 
He  was  impetuous,  quick,  impatient,  but  never  nerv 
ous,  could  collect  himself  in  a  moment  and  was  always 
master  of  the  situation.  I  have  seen  him  in  many  try 
ing  places  but  never  remember  to  have  seen  him  in  a 
condition  of  being  afraid.  When  he  lived  in  Cass 
County,  Missouri,  during  the  war,  we  saw  Quantrell's 
men  coming  up  to  the  house.  These  men  were  dressed 
in  slouch  hats,  gray  suits,  and  had  their  guns  and 
haversacks  roped  to  their  saddles.  My  father  was  a 
union  man,  but  a  southern  sympathizer.  He  cried  like 
a  child  when  he  heard  the  south  had  seceded  and  taken 
another  flag.  He  did  not  know  to  what  extent  he  was 
disliked  by  this  gang  of  bushwhackers,  and  we  were 
very  much  alarmed ;  fully  expected  some  harm  was 
meant.  Men  on  both  sides  were  frequently  taken  out 
and  shot  down.  When  the  Bushwhackers  would  kill 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  29 

a  union    man    then    the    Jayhawkers    would    kill    "a 
secesh." 

My  father  said  to  us:  "You  stay  in  the  house  and 
keep  quiet.  I  will  meet  them."  I  watched  him  through 
a  window.  He  was  tall  and  straight  as  an  Indian.  He 
walked  up  to  them  taking  his  hat  off  and  called  "Good 
morning"  to  them  in  a  friendly  tone.  Asked  them  to 
get  off  their  horses,  for  he  had  a  treat  for  them.  In 
the  corner  of  the  yard  was  the  carriage  house  and  un 
der  that  was  a  rock  spring  house,  through  which  a 
living  stream  of  water  ran  around  the  pans  of  milk. 
He  took  them  to  the  door,  gave  them  seats,  then  went 
in  this  milkhouse  and  brought  out  a  jar  of  buttermilk. 
I  have  heard  it  said  that  buttermilk  is  one  of  the  great 
est  treats  to  a  soldier.  He  talked  with  these  men  as 
if  they  had  been  friends ;  brought  out  fruit ;  loaded 
them  with  bread,  butter  and  milk;  and  they  left  with 
out  even  taking  a  horse  from  us.  I  fully  believe  it 
was  their  intention  to  do  some  harm,  but  by  the  tact 
of  my  father  they  were  disarmed.  "A  soft  answer 
turneth  away  wrath,  but  grievous  words  stir 
up  strife."  He  was  a  thorough  business  man,  but  his 
social  qualities  exceeded  all  others.  He  often  had  to 
pay  security  debts,  one  for  Mr.  Key,  his  brother-in- 
law,  of  five  thousand  dollars.  Just  before  the  election 
of  Lincoln,  he  took  a  large  drove  of  mules  to  Natchez, 
Mississippi,  twenty-two  of  these  mules  were  of  his 
own  raising.  While  there  Lincoln  was  elected,  which 
threw  the  south  into  war.  He  sold  the  mules  on  time 
and  never  got  a  dollar  for  them.  To  the  honor  of  my 
father  be  it  said,  he  gave  up  all  his  property  to  pay  his 
debts,  never  withholding,  where  he  could  have  done 


30  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

so.  A  short  while  before  he  died  there  was  one  debt 
of  a  few  hundred  dollars  he  could  not  pay.  He  wept 
and  told  me  of  this.  A  year  ago  I  settled  up  with  Mr. 
Will's  heirs  and  paid  this  debt  to  his  children,  who  live 
near  Peculiar  in  Cass  County,  Missouri.  It  would  be 
such  a  joy  to  my  father  to  know  that  I  did  this  to  save 
his  honor.  When  I  see  him,  in  our  heavenly  home, 
he  will  bless  me  for  this.  "Love  knows  no  sacrifice." 

I  cannot  call  to  mind  when  the  thought  of  self,  gov 
erned  any  of  my  father's  actions.  It  was  his  delight 
to  provide  for  the  comfort  of  others.  Devoted  to  his 
family  and  friends,  and  such  a  friend  to  the  poor ;  I 
have  heard  my  mother  say  that  he  made  every  one 
rich  who  worked  for  him.  When  I  first  remember  him 
he  was  a  "Trader"  and  left  his  farm  to  an  overseer. 
My  father  drove  hogs  to  Cincinnati  before  there  were 
any  railways.  I  was  always  at  his  heels,  when  I  could 
be.  He  was  standing  on  the  stile  one  day  giving  direc 
tions  to  have  a  drove  of  hogs  meet  him  at  a  certain 
place  on  Sunday.  I  said:  "Pa,  you  will  lose  on  those 
hogs.  You  ought  not -to  do  that  on  Sunday."  He 
gave  me  a  quick,  light,  playful  slap,  saying:  "Stop 
that,  every  time  you  say  that,  I  do  lose." 

I  can  see  that  a  responsibility  to  God  was  the  funda 
mental  principle  in  my  father's  life.  After  the  negroes 
were  freed,  and  we  lived  on  the  farm,  there  was  so 
much  to  do,  especially  for  him,  but  there  was  always 
a  conveyance  prepared  to  take  his  family  to  church  and 
Sunday  School — I  took  the  "New  York  Ledger." 
Mrs.  Southworth  wrote  for  it  then.  "Capitola,"  The 
Wrecker's  Son,  with  other  thrilling  stories,  were  so 
fascinating  to  me — the  paper  came  late  Saturday  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  31 

I  would  rather  read  it  Sunday  morning  than  go  any 
where.  One  morning  I  took  my  paper  and  went  to 
the  back  of  the  orchard,  thinking  to  get  out  of  the 
sound  of  my  father's  voice  when  he  would  call  me  to 
get  ready  for  church.  I  could  just  hear  him  but  did 
not  move.  After  reading  my  paper,  I  returned  to  the 
house,  Pa  was  just,  coining  back  with  the  rest  of  the 
family  from  church.  He  looked  at  me  with  grief  and 
anger  in  his  glance  and  said,  "Never  mind,  you  un 
grateful  girl,  you  cannot  say  at  the  Judgment  Day, 
that  your  father  did  not  provide  a  way  for  you  to  go 
to  church."  I  never  did  this  again  and  never  was  free 
from  remorse  for  this  ingratitude.  I  know  how  Dr. 
Johnson  felt  when  he  was  seen  standing  on  a  corner 
of  the  street  with  the  sun  beaming  down  upon  his  bare 
head,  when  asked  why  he  did  that  he  said,  "My  father 
had  a  book  stand  on  this  corner,  when  I  was  a  boy 
once  he  asked  me  to  stand  here  in  his  place  as  he  was 
sick.  I  would  not,  now  I  would  expitate  that  by  blis 
tering  my  bare  head  in  the  sun  if  I  could.  To  this  day 
I  weep  to  think  of  grieving  so  noble  a  parent. 

My  mother  was  a  very  handsome  woman.  My 
father  was  good  looking.  I  was  very  anxious  to  look 
like  him ;  used  to  try  to  wear  off  my  teeth  on  the  right 
side,  because  his  were  worn  off.  About  two  years  be 
fore  he  died,  he  came  to  Texas  to  visit  me.  I  was  then 
in  the  hotel  business.  During  the  first  meal  he  ate  at 
the  hotel,  he  looked  up  and  seeing  me  waiting  on  the 
table,  he  got  up  and  began  waiting  on  the  table  him 
self.  I  had  to  work  very  hard  then  and  it  was  a  grief 
to  him  to  have  no  money  to  give  me.  One  morning  he 
came  into  my  room  while  I  was  dressing  and  said: 


32  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

"Daughter,  I  have  not  slept  all  night  for  thinking  of 
you.  The  last  thing  last  night  was  you.  in  the  kitchen 
and  the  first  thing  this  morning.  I  have  always  hoped 
to  have  something  to  leave  you,  and  it  is  such  a  grief  to 
me  that  I  cannot  help  you.  Carry,  it  seems  the  Lord 
has  been  so  hard  on  you."  I  said :  "No,  Pa ;  I  thank 
God  for  all  my  sorrows.  They  have  been  the  best  for 
me,  and  don't  you  worry  about  not  leaving  me  money, 
for  you  have  left  me  something  far  better."  He  look 
ed  up  surprised  and  said:  "What  is  it?"  I  answered: 
"The  memory  of  a  father  who  never  did  a  dishonor 
able  act."  My  father's  eyes  filled  with  tears,  and  after 
that  he  seemed  to  be  happier  than  I  had  ever  seen 
him ;  everything  seemed  to  go  right. 

My  father  was  a  very  indulgent  master  to  his  col 
ored  servants,  who  loved  him  like  a  father.  They  al 
ways  called  him  "Mars  George."  The  negro  women 
would  threaten  to  get  "Mars  George"  to  whip  their 
bad  children,  and  when  he  whipped  them,  I  have  heard 
them  say :  "Served  you  right.  Did  not  give  you  a  lick 
amiss."  This  was  proving  their  great  confidence,  they 
being  willing  for  some  one  else  to  whip  their  children. 
They  were  very  sensitive  in  this  matter  and  were  not 
willing  for  my  mother  to  do  this.  My  father  would 
lay  in  a  supply,  while  in  Cincinnati,  of  boxes  of  boots 
and  shoes,  and  get  combs,  head  handkerchiefs,  and 
Sunday  dresses,  which  would  greatly  delight  his  col 
ored  people.  Happy,  indeed,  would  the  negroes  have 
been  if  all  their  masters  had  been  as  my  father  was. 

When  we  moved  to  Mercer  County  from  Garrard, 
we  had  a  sale.  It  was  customary  then  at  such  a  time 
to  have  a  barbecue  and  a  great  dinner.  The  tables 


X  O 


3-i  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

were  set  in  the  yard.  I  remember  Mr.  Jones  Adams, 
a  neighbor  and  great  friend  of  my  father,  brought 
over  a  two  bushel  sack  of  turnip  greens  and  a  ham. 
I  remember  seeing  him  shake  them  out  of  the  bag. 
At  this  sale  for  the  first,  and  only  time,  I  saw  a  negro 
put  on  a  block  and  sold  to  the  highest  bidder.  I  can't 
understand  how  my  father  could  have  allowed  this. 
His  name  was  "Big  Bill,"  to  distinguish  him  from  an 
other  "Bill."  He  was  a  widower,  and  had  no  family. 
There  was  one  colored  man  my  father  valued  highly, 
and  wanted  to  take  with  him,  but  this  man,  Tom,  had 
a  wife,  who  belonged  to  a  near  neighbor.  After  we 
got  in  the  carriage  to  go  to  our  new  home,  Tom  fol 
lowed  us  crying:  "Oh,  Mars  George,  don't  take  me 
from  my  wife."  My  father  said:  "Go  and  get  some 
one  to  buy  you."  This  Tom  did,  the  buyer  being  a 
Mr.  Dunn.  Oh !  What  a  sad  sight ;  it  makes  the  tears 
fill  my  eyes  to  write  it. 

But  a  worse  slavery  is  now  on  us.  I  would  rather 
have  my  son  sold  to  a  slave-driver  than  to  be  a  victim 
of  a  saloon.  I  could,  in  the  first  case,  hope  to  see  him 
in  heaven ;  but  no  drunkard  can  inherit  eternal  life. 
The  people  of  the  south  said  no  power  could  take  from 
them  their  slaves,  but  'tis  a  thing  of  the  past.  People 
now  say,  you  can't  shut  up  saloons.  But  our  children 
will  know  them  as  a  thing  of  the  past.  My  father  was 
glad  when  the  slaves  were  free.  He  felt  the  responsi 
bility  of  owning  them.  Have  heard  him  say,  after 
having  some  trouble  with  them :  "Those  negroes  will 
send  me  to  hell  yet."  He  would  gather  them  in  the 
dining-room  Sunday  evenings  and  read  the  Bible  to 
them  and  have  prayer.  He  would  first  call  aunt  Liza 
and  ask  her  to  have  them  come  in.  The  negroes  would 
sing,  and  it  is  a  sweet  memory  to  me. 


CHAPTER  II. 

MY  EXPERIENCE  WITH  THE  NEGROES  AS  SLAVES. THEIR 

SUPERSTITIONS. A  BEAUTIFUL  FAIRY  TALE. 

The  colored  race,  as  I  knew  them,  were  generally 
kind  to  the  white  children  of  their  masters.  Their 
sympathy  was  great  in  childish  troubles.  When  we 
were  sick  they  nursed  us.  Their  lullabies  soothed  us 
to  sleep.  Very  frequently  my  nurse  would  hold  me  in 
her  arms  until  both  of  us  would  fall  asleep,  but  she 
would  still  hold  me  securely.  When  any  of  my  mis 
doings  came  to  the  ears  of  my  parents,  and  I  was  pun 
ished,  their  testimony  would,  as  far  as  possible,  shield 
me,  and  not  until  I  would  try  their  patience  out  of  all 
bounds  would  they  tell  my  mother  on  me.  I  never 
heard  a  negro  express  infidel  views,  even  if  wicked. 
They  had  firm  belief  in  God  and  a  devil.  I  always 
liked  their  meetings,  their  songs  and  shoutings.  They 
always  told  me  that  no  one  could  help  shouting.  The 
first  time  I  ever  heard  a  white  woman  shout  was  in 
Northern  Texas,  during  the  war.  I  did  not  wish  the 
spirit  to  cause  me  to  jump  up  and  clap  my  hands  that 
way,  for  these  impulses  were  not  in  my  carnal  heart, 
so,  for  fear  I  should  be  compelled  to  do  so,  I  held  my 
dress  down  tight  to  the  seat  on  each  side,  to  prevent 
me  from  jumping  up.  The  negroes  are  great  readers 
of  character ;  despise  stingy  people  or  those  who  were 
afraid  of  them.  These  colored  friends  taught  me  the 
fear  of  God.  The  first  time  I  ever  attended  church,  I 
rode  behind  my  nurse  on  horseback,  and  sat  with  them 


3G  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF^ 

in  the  gallery.  I  imbibed  some  of  their  superstitions. 
They  consider  it  bad  to  allow  a  sharp  tool,  as  a  spade, 
hoe  or  ax,  to  be  taken  through  the  house ;  to  throw 
salt  in  the  fire,  for  you  would  have  to  pick  it  out  after 
death.  They  would  kill  a  hen  if  she  crowed;  looked 
for  a  death,  if  a  dog  howled ;  or,  if  one  broke  a  look 
ing-glass,  it  meant  trouble  of  some  kind  for  seven 
years.  They  believed  that  persons  had  power  to  put 
a  "spell"  on  others,  would,  if  taken  sick,  frequently 
speak  of  having  "stepped  on  something"  put  in  their 
way  or  buried  in  their  dooryard. 

There  is  no  dialect  in  the  world  that  has  the  original 
characteristics  so  pleasing  to  the  ear  as  the  negro. 
There  is  a  softness  and  music  in  the  voice  of  a  negro 
not  to  be  found  in  any  other  race.  No  one  can  sing  a 
child  to  sleep  so  soothingly  as  a  negro  nurse.  After 
I  left  Texas  and  went  to  Medicine  Lodge,  Kansas, 
when  I  had  a  headache  or  was  otherwise  sick,  I  would 
wish  that  one  of  the  old-fashioned  colored  women, 
would  rub  me  with  their  rough  plump  hands 
and  call  me  "Honey  Chile,"  and  would  bathe  my  feet 
and  tuck  the  cover  around  me  and  sit  by  me,  holding 
my  hand,  waiting  until  I  fell  asleep.  I  owe  much  to 
the  colored  people  and  never  want  to  live  where  there 
are  none  of  the  negro  race.  I  would  feel  lonesome 
without  them.  After  I  came  to  Medicine  Lodge,  I  did 
not  see  any  for  some  time.  One  day,  while  looking 
out,  I  saw  one  walking  up  the  street  toward  the  house. 
I  ran  to  the  kitchen,  cut  an  apple  pie,  and  ran  out  and 
said :  "Here,  Uncle,  is  a  piece  of  pie."  He  was  gray- 
headed,  one  of  the  old  slaves.  He  seemed  so  glad  to 
see  my  friendly  face  and  took  the  pie  with  a  happy 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.  NATION.  37 

courtesy.  I  watched  for  his  return,  as  he  came  in  on 
the  train,  and  was  going  out.  At  last  he  came.  I  in 
vited  him  in  the  kitchen,  fixed  a  meal  for  him,  and 
waited  on  him  myself.  Before  eating,  he  folded  his 
hands,  closed  his  eyes,  with  his  face  toward  heaven, 
thanked  God  for  the  food,  as  I  had  often  seen  them 
do  in  slave  time.  As  a  race,  the  negroes  have  not  the 
characteristics  of  treachery.  They  are  faithful  and 
grateful. 

In  my  hotel  experience,  I  would  often  ask  Fannie, 
my  cook:  "What  kind  of  a  man  is  that?"  Fannie 
would  say:  "Don't  trust  him  too  far  Mrs.  Nation,  he 
steps  too  light."  When  a  child  my  playmates  were 
colored  children.  Betsy  came  to  the  table  with  the 
children  and  ate  with  us.  But  the  sweetest  food  was 
that  left  in  the  skillets,  both  black  and  white  children 
would  go  around  the  house,  sit  down  and  "sop"  the 
gravy  with  the  biscuits  the  cooks  would  give  us.  I 
was  fond  of  hearing  ghost  stories  and  would,  without 
the  knowledge  of  my  mother,  stay  in  the  cabin  late  at 
night  listening  to  the  men  and  women  telling  their  "ex 
periences."  The  men  would  be  making  ax  handles 
and  beating  the  husk  off  of  the  corn  in  a  large  wooden 
hopper  with  a  maul.  The  women  would  be  spinning 
with  the  little  wheel,  sewing,  knitting  and  combing 
their  children's  heads.  I  would  listen  until  my  teeth 
would  chatter  with  fright,  and  would  shiver  more  and 
more,  as  they  would  tell  of  the  sights  in  grave-yards, 
the  spirits  of  tyrannical  masters,  walking  at  night, 
with  their  chains  clanking  and  the  sights  of  hell,  where 
some  would  be  on  gridirons,  some  hung  up  to  baste 
and  the  devil  with  his  pitchfork  would  toss  the  poor 


38  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

creatures  hither  and  thither.  They  would  say :  "Carry, 
you  must  go  to  the  house,"  and  I  would  not  go  with 
one,  but  must  have  two,  one  on  each  side  of  me.  I 
remember  seeing  the  negro  men  laugh  at  me,  but  the 
women  would  shake  their  heads  and  say : :  "You  better 
quit  skeering  that  chile."  But  there  was  one  pleasure 
above,  all  the  rest,  it  was  to  hear  anyone  tell  "tales." 
When  my  mother  would  have  a  visitor,  very  frequent 
ly  the  lady  would  bring  a  nurse  to  care  for  the  chil 
dren,  she  brought  with  her.  Oh,  how  pleased  the  black 
and  white  children  would  be  to  see  such  visitors !  We 
would  give  them  doll-rags,  nuts,  or  apples,  and  in 
many  ways  express  our  delight  at  having  them  come. 
As  soon  as  they  were  made  comfortable,  the  next 
thing  was :  "Tell  us  a  tale."  And  seating  ourselves 
around  on  the  floor,  or  in  a  close  group,  we  would  be 
all  attention.  Of  course  the  stories  would  be  about 
raw  heads  and  bloody  bones,  but  not  so  much  so  as 
the  stories  told  at  night  in  the  cabins. 

One  of  the  prettiest  stories  I  ever  heard,  and  never 
tired  of  hearing,  that  taught  me  a  great  moral,  was 
about  two  girls  the  children  of  a  couple  who  were 
hard  working  people.  One  of  the  girls  was  named 
Sarah,  the  other  Mary.  Sarah  was  a  very  pretty  girl 
with  curls.  Mary  was  rather  ugly  and  had  straight 
hair.  Curls  in  my  childhood  days  were  something 
very  much  sought  for.  Although  Sarah  was  pretty 
she  had  very  rude  ways ;  she  would  not  speak  kindly 
and  politely  ;  would  not  help  her  hard  working  mother ; 
but  was  idle  and  quarrelsome,  always  wanted  some 
one  to  wait  on  her ;  while  Mary  was  the  reverse ;  she 
would  pick  up  chips  to  make  a  fire,  would  sweep  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  39 

yard  and  bring  water,  and  was  kind  to  all,  especially 
so  to  her  mother.  One  day  the  well  went  dry  and 
there  was  no  water  to  make  the  tea  for  supper.  Mary 
saw  her  mother  crying  and  said:  "Don't  cry,  mother; 
I  will  go  and  get  some  at  the  Haunted  Spring."  • 

Her  mother  said:  "Oh,  no,  dear  sweet  child,  those 
goblins  will  kill  you." 

"No,  mother,"  replied  Mary.  "I  will  beg  them  to 
let  me  have  some  water  for  dear  father,  and  I  am  not 
afraid." 

So  her  mother  got  a  light  bucket  for  her,  and  went 
to  the  top  of  the  hill  with  her,  and  said:  "God  bless 
you,  my  dear  child,  and  bring  you  back  to  me." 

Then  Mary  went  on  until  she  came  to  the  high  iron 
gate.  She  said :  "Please  gate  open  and  let  me  through. 
I  mind  my  father  and  motHer  and  love  everybody." 

And  the  gate  opened  and  she  passed  into  the  "haunt 
ed"  grounds.  She  saw  a  funny,  little,  short  man  come 
running  with  a  stick  and  said :  "Please,  nice  man,  don't 
hit  me.  I  have  come  down  to  get  some  good  water 
to  make  tea  for  my  father's  supper.  He  has  been 
working  all  day,  and  our  well  has  gone  dry.  May  I 
please  have  some  of  your  spring  water?" 

"Well,  little  girl,  as  you  talk  so  nicely,  you  can  have 
some.  Tell  the  little  folks  to  open  the  briars  for  you." 

So  she  went  on  and  came  to  a  briar  patch  and  saw 
down  at  the  roots  some  little  people,  not  much  longer 
than  your  finger.  Mary  spoke  so  kindly  to  them ;  said 
she  would  be  so  glad  if  they  would  open  a  path  for  her 
to  walk  in,  she  would  thank  them  so  much ;  that  they 
began  to  pull  the  briars  back  until  there  was  a  good 
path.  Mary  thanked  them  and  went  on  until  she  came 


40  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

to  the  spring  and  there  was  a  rabbit  jumping  up  and 
down  in  it.  Mary  said:  "Please  Mr.  Rabbit,  don't 
muddy  the  water  for  I  would  like  to  get  a  bucket  of 
nice  clear  water  to  take  home  to  make  tea  for  supper." 
The  rabbit  ran  off  and  she  dipped  her  bucket  full  of 
pure  water. 

Then  she  looked  down  the  bank,  and  there  was  a 
little  lamb  that  had  fallen  in  and  was  lying  down,  and 
could  not  get  up.  The  lamb  said:  "Little  girl,  please 
pick  me  up  and  lay  me  on  the  grass  to  dry."  Mary 
stepped  on  some  rocks  till  she  got  to  the  lamb  and 
lifted  him  up  and  laid  him  on  the  bank  to  dry.  The 
lamb  said :  "When  you  go  home,  spit  in  your  mother's 
hand."  Mary  thought  that  would  not  be  right,  but 
she  said  nothing.  She  went  back  through  the  briar 
patch  and  the  little  folks  held  them  from  scratching 
her,  and  the  little  old  man  spoke  nicely  to  her  and  the 
gate  opened  for  her.  Her  mother  was  watching  for 
her  and  helped  her  home  with  the  water,  kissed  her, 
and  prepared  a  good  supper. 

While  they  were  sitting  at  the  table  Mary  said: 
"Mother,  the  little  lamb  told  me  to  do  something  I  do 
not  like  to  do." 

"What  was  it?" 

"He  told  me  to  spit  in  your  hand." 

"Well,  you  can  my  child ;  come  on ;"  and  the  mother 
held  out  her  hand  and  Mary  spat  a  diamond  and  a 
pearl  in  it.  This  made  the  family  happy  and  rich. 
The  next  day  they  had  men  come  and  dig  a  new  well. 

Now  Sarah  wished  to  try  her  fortune,  her  mother 
did  not  want  her  to  go,  because  she  knew  what  a  bad, 
saucy  girl  she  was,  but  Sarah  said  she  would  do  as 
well  as  Mary.  Her  sister  told  her  how  she  must  do, 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  41 

but  she  got  angry  at  her,  and  said:  "You  mind  your 
own  business ;  I  reckon  I  know  what  I  am  about." 

So  she  took  her  bucket  and  went  on  until  she  came 
to  the  gate ;  she  gave  that  a  kick  and  said :  "Open 
gate !"  and  the  gate  opened  and  slammed  on  her.  The 
little  old  man  came  running  with  his  stick.  Sarah 
said :  "Don't  you  hit  me,  old  man ;  I'll  tell  my  father." 
And  the  old  man  beat  her  and  the  little  folks  pushed 
r.p  the  briar  bushes  so  she  tore  her  clothes  and  scratch 
ed  herself  badly.  The  little  rabbit  was  in  the  spring 
and  he  jumped  up  and  down  and  she  threw  at  him, 
telling  him  she  would  knock  his  head  off ;  but  the  rab 
bit  jumped  up  and  down  'till  the  spring  was  a  lob-lolly 
of  mud,  so  she  had  to  take  muddy  water  in  her  bucket. 
The  little  lamb  had  gotten  back  into  the  branch  and 
said :  "Please,  little  girl,  pick  me  up  and  put  me  on  the 
bank  to  dry." 

But  Sarah  said :  "I  won't  do  it." 

The  lamb  replied :  "Spit  in  your  mother's  hand  when 
you  go  home." 

So  Sarah  had  to  go  through  the  briars,  that  scratch 
ed  her,  and  the  old  man  beat  her,  and  the  gate  slammed 
on  her,  and  when  her  mother  met  her  she  was  a 
"sight."  Her  face  was  dirty,  her  dress  torn,  her  legs 
and  arms  were  scratched  and  bleeding,  and  her  curly 
hair  was  in  a  mass  of  tangles.  Her  mother  washed  the 
dirt  off  and  scolded  her  for  being  so  naughty.  Mary 
helped  to  wash  and  dress  her  for  supper.  Then  they 
all  sat  down  to  eat,  and  every  one  was  happy  but 
Sarah. 

Sarah  said:  "Mother,  the  lamb  told  me  to  spit  in 
vonr  hand." 


42  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

"Very  well,  come  on,"  answered  the  mother.  So 
Sarah  spat  in  her  mother's  hand  and  out  jumped  a  liz 
ard  and  a  frog. 

A  child  ever  so  small  will  see  the  moral,  and  that, 
I  never  forgot.  Of  course  the  pearls  and  the  diamonds 
are  the  politeness  and  kindness,  which  is  so  beautiful 
in  children ;  and  the  lizard  and  the  frog  are  rudeness 
and  impudence.  Very  often  the  nurse  would  say:* 
"Look  here,  you  Sarah,  you." 

I  remember  how  shocked  I  would  be  to  think  I 
would  ever  be  like  that  naughty  Sarah. 

A  positive  indication  of  a  corrupt  age  is  the  lack  of 
respect  children  have  for  parents.  This  largely  owing 
to  the  neglect  of  teachers.  I  am  heartily  thankful  I 
was  taught  to  say  "Yes  ma'am,"  and  "No,  ma'am," 
"Yes,  sir,  and  No,  sir."  Now  it  is — "Yah!  Yes,  No, 
What,  etc"  Nothing  is  a  greater  letter  of  credit  than 
politeness  and  it  costs  nothing.  'Tis  not  the  child's 
fault  but  the  parents  and  teachers. 

I  was,  when  a  child,  always  doing  something ;  was 
very  fond  of  climbing ;  seemed  to  have  a  mania  for  it. 
I  never  saw  a  tall  tree  that  I  did  not  try  to  climb,  or 
wish  I  could.  I  used  to  run  bareheaded  over  the  fields 
and  woods  with  the  other  children,  lifting  up  rocks 
and  logs  to  look  at  the  bugs  and  worms.  When  we 
found  a  dead  chicken,  bird,  rat  or  mouse,  we  would 
have  a  funeral.  I  would  usually  be  the  preacher  and 
we  would  kneel  down  and  while  one  prayed,  the  rest 
would  look  through  their  fingers,  to  see  what  the 
others  were  doing.  We  would  sing  and  clap  our  hands 
and  shake  hands,  then  we  would  play :  "Come  and  see." 

I  never  had  but  one  doll  that  was  bought.     It  was 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  43 

given  to  me  by  Dr.  Jackson  for  taking  my  medicine, 
when  I  was  sick.  We  made  rag  dolls  out  of  dresses. 
My  delight  was  to  have  one  of  the  colored  women's 
babies.  We  would  go  visiting  and  take  our  dolls,  and 
would  tell  of  the  dreadful  times  we  had  and  of  how 
mean  our  husbands  were  to  the  children ;  sometimes 
one  would  tell  of  how  good  instead.  And  then  we 
would  catch  bees  in  the  althea  blooms.  One  of  the 
delightful  pastimes  was  to  make  mud  cakes  and  put 
them  on  boards  to  dry.  We  had  some  clay  that  we 
could  mould  anything  out  of — all  kinds  of  animals,  and 
indeed,  there  twere  shapes  worked  out  by  little  fingers 
never  seen  before. 

The  race  question  is  a  serious  one.  The  kindly  feel 
ing  between  black  and  white  is  giving  place  to  bitter 
ness  with  the  rising  generations.  One  reason  of  this 
seems  to  be  a  jealousy  of  the  whites  for  fear  the 
negroes  will  presume  to  be  socially  equal  with  them. 
The  negro  race  should  avoid  this,  should  not  desire  it, 
it  would  be  of  no  real  value  to  them.  They  are  a  dis 
tinct  race  with  characteristics  which  they  need  not 
wish  to  exchange.  When  a  negro  tries  to  imitate 
white  folks,  he  is  a  mongrel.  I  will  say  to  my  colored 
brothers  and  sisters  in  Christ  Jesus ;  Never  depart 
from  your  race  lines  and  bearings,  keep  true  to  your 
nature,  your  simplicity,  and  happy  disposition — and 
above  all  come  back  to  the  "Oldtime"  religion,  you 
will  never  strand  on  that  rock. 


CHAPTER  III. 

MOVED       TO       WOODFORD       COUNTY,       KENTUCKY. ALSO 

MOVED  TO  MISSOURI. SAVED  FROM  BEING  A  THIEF. 

MY  CONVERSION. GOING  SOUTH   AT  OPENING  OF  THE 

CIVIL   WAR. AN    INCIDENT  OF   MY   GIRLHOOD   SCHOOL 

DAYS. WHY    I    HAD    TO    BELIEVE     IN     REVELATION. 

SPIRITUALISM  OR  WITCHCRAFT. 

In  1854,  we  moved  to  Woodford  County,  Kentucky, 
and  bought  a  farm  from  Mr.  Hibler,  on  the  pike,  be 
tween  Midway  and  Versailles.  Mr.  Warren  Yiley 
was  our  nearest  neighbor.  My  father  was  one  of  the 
trustees  in  building  the  Orphans'  Home  at  Midway. 
Here  in  Midway  I  attended  Sunday  School  and  I  had 
a  very  faithful  teacher  who  taught  me  the  Word  of 
God.  I  have  forgotten  her  name  but  I  can  see  her 
sweet  face  now,  as  she  planted  seed  in  my  heart  that 
are  still  bringing  forth  fruit. 

A  minister  came  to  our  house  one  day  and  gave  me 
a  book  to  read,  which  made  a  very  deep  impression  on 
me.  As  well  as  I  can  remember  it  was  called :  ''The 
Children  of  the  Heavenly  King."  This  story  repre 
sented  three  brothers,  one,  the  youngest,  was  named 
Ezra,  the  other  Ulrich,  the  name  of  the  third  I  forget. 
These  three  were  intrusted  with  watching  certain 
passes  in  the  mountains  during  the  warfare  between 
a  great,  good  king,  and  a  bad  one,  and  in  proportion 
as  these  boys  were  faithful,  the  good  king  was  victor 
ious  in  battle,  but  when  they  neglected  their  duty,  he 
would  suffer,  loss.  The  character  of  little  Ezra  was 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  45 

a  sweet,  unselfish  one.  He  tried  so  hard  to  help,  and 
have  his  brothers  do  right.  He  would  run  from  his 
post  to  wake  them  up,  and  tried  to  make  up  for  their 
neglect.  He  would  do  without  rest  and  food  for  him 
self,  and  would  plead  with  them  to  do  their  duty.  At 
last,  when  the  king  came,  little  Ezra  was  richly  re 
warded  ;  Ulrich  barely  passed,  and  the  unfaithful  one 
was  taken  out  amidst  weeping,  wailing  and  gnashing 
of  teeth,  and  the  door  was  shut.  The  minister  did  not 
know  what  good  he  had  done. 

"Only  a  thought,  but  the  work  it  wrought, 
Could  never  by  tongue  or  pen  be  taught; 
For  it  ran  thro'  a  life,  like  a  thread  of  gold, 
And  the  life  bore  fruit,  an  hundred  fold. 
Only  a  word,  but  it  was  spoken  in  love, 
With  a  whispered  prayer  to  the  Lord  above; 
And  the  angels  in  heaven  rejoiced  once  more 
For  a  new-born  soul  entered  in,  at  the  door." 
I  resolved  to  be  like  little  Ezra  as  nearly  as  I  could. 
\Vhen  I  was  a  child  I  fought  against  selfish  nature.     I 
would  often  give  away  my  doll  clothes  and  other  things 
that  I  wanted  to  keep  myself.     Some  of  the  strongest 
characteristics  of  my  life  were  awakened  in  my  child 
hood.     I  would  often  blush  with  shame,  when  com 
mitting  sirs,  and  I  had  a  great  fear  of  the  judgment 
day;  it  would  terrify  me  when  hearing  of  Jesus  com 
ing  to  the  earth.     I  would  often  ask  myself:  "Where 
can  I  hide?"  If  the  public  knew  of  the  smashing  God 
gave  me  the  strength  to  do  in  my  heart,  they  would 
not  .wonder  at  my  courage  in  smashing  the  murder- 
shops  of  our  land.     "He  that  ruleth  his  own  spirit,  is 
greater  than  he  that  taketh  a  city."     (Prov.  16:32.) 


46  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

In  1855,  we  moved  to  Missouri,  just  a  year  before 
the  trouble  broke  out  between  Kansas  and  Missouri. 
Missouri  determined  to  make  Kansas  a  slave  state; 
but  Kansas  said  she  would  not  have  a  slave  upon  her 
soil.  Squads  of  men  in  Missouri  would  often  go  into 
Kansas  and  commit  depredations.  At  one  time  they 
burned  Lawrence,  Kansas,  and  killed  many  people. 
This  trouble  continued  to  grow  worse  until  it  brought 
on  the  great  Civil  War. 

When  we  moved  from  Kentucky  to  Missouri,  I  took 
a  severe  cold  on  the  boat,  which  made  me  an  invalid 
for  years.  I  was  not  a  truthful  child,  neither  was  I 
honest.  My  mother  was  very  strict  with  me  in  many 
ways  and  I  would  often  tell  her  lies  to  avoid  restraint 
or  punishment.  If  there  was  anything  I  wanted  about 
the  house,  especially  something  to  eat,  I  would  steal  it, 
if  I  could.  The  colored  servant  would  often  ask  me 
to  steal  things  for  them.  My  nurse  Betsy,  would  say : 
"Carry  get  me  a  cup  of  sugar,  or  some  butter,  thread 
or  needles,"  and  many  other  things.  This  would  make 
me  sly  and  dishonest.  I  used  to  go  and  see  my  aunts 
and  stay  for  months.  I  would  open  their  boxes  and 
bureau  drawers  and  steal  ribbons  and  laces  and  make 
doll  clothes  out  of  them.  I  would  steal  perfumery  and 
would  run  out  of  the  room  to  prevent  hem  from 
smelling  it.  I  am  telling  this  for  a  purpose.  Many 
little  children  may  be  doing  what  I  did,  not  thinking 
of  what  a  serious  thing  it  is,  and  I  write  this  to  show 
them  how  I  was  cured  of  dishonesty:  I  got  a  little 
book  at  Sunday  School  and  it  told  of  the  way  people 
became  thieves,  by  beginning  to  take  little  things, 
naming  them,  and  some  of  these,  were  the  very  things 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  47 

i 

I  had  been  taking.  I  was  greatly  shocked  to  see  my 
self  a  thief ;  it  had  never  occurred  to  me  that  I  was  as 
bad  as  that.  I  thought  one  had  to  steal  something  of 
great  value  to  be  a  thief.  My  repentance  was  sincere, 
and  I  was  made  honest  by  this  blessed  book,  so  much 
so  that  even  after  I  became  grown,  if  any  article  was 
left  in  my  house  I  would  give  it  away,  unless  I  could 
find  the  owner.  I  .was  perfectly  delighted  when  I  was 
entirely  free.  I  asked  for  everything  I  wanted,  even 
a  pin.  After  that,  I  could  show  my  doll  clothes,  and 
it  was  not  necessary  for  me  to  be  sly  or  tell  stories  any 
more.  It  was  about  this  time  I  was  converted.  There 
was  a  protracted  meeting  at  a  place  called  Hickman's 
Mill,  Jackson  County,  Missouri.  The  minister  was 
gray  haired  and  belonged  to  the  Christian  or  Disciples 
church,  the  one  my  father  belonged  to.  I  was  at  this 
time  ten  years  old  and  went  with  my  father  to  church 
on  Lord's  Day  morning.  At  the  close  of  the  sermon, 
and  during  the  invitation,  my  father  stepped  to  the 
pulpit  and  spoke  to  the  minister  and  he  looked  over  in 
my  direction.  At  this  I  began  to  weep  bitterly,  some 
power  seemed  to  impel  me  to  go  forward  and  sit  down 
on  the  front  bench.  I  could  not  have  told  anyone  what 
I  wept  for,  except  it  was  a  longing  to  be  better.  I 
had  often  thought  before  this  that  I  was  in  danger  of 
going  to  the  "Bad  place,"  especially  was  I  afraid  to 
think  of  the  time  when  I  should  see  Jesus  come.  I 
wanted  to  hide  from  Him.  My  father  had  a  cousin 
living  at  Hickman's  Mill,  Ben  Robertson.  His  wife, 
cousin  Jennie,  came  up  to  me  at  the  close  of  the  ser 
vice,  and  said:  "Carry,  I  believe  you  know  what  you 
are  doing."  But  I  did  not.  Oh,  how  I  wanted  some 


48  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

one  to  explain  to  me.  The  next  day  I  was  taken  to 
a  running  stream  about  two  miles  away,  and,  although 
it  was  quite  cold  and  some  ice  in  the  water,  I  felt  no 
fear.  It  seemed  like  a  dream.  I  know  God  will  bless 
the  ordinance  of  baptism,  for  the  little  Carry  that 
walked  into  the  water  was  different  from  the  one  who 
walked  out.  I  said  no  word.  I  felt  that  I  could  not 
speak,  for  fear  of  disturbing  the  peace  that  passeth  all 
understanding.  Kind  hands  wrapped  me  up  and  I 
felt  no  chill.  I  felt  the  responsibility  of  my  new  rela 
tion  and  tried  hard  to  do  right. 

A  few  days  after  this  I  was  at  my  aunt  Kate  Don- 
eghy's.  Uncle  James,  or  "Jim"  we  called  him,  her 
husband,  was  not  a  Christian.  He  shocked  me  one 
day  by  saying:  "So  those  Campbellites  took  you  to 
the  creek,  and  soused  you,  did  they  'Cal'?"  (A  nick 
name.)  What  a  blow !  My  aunt  seemed  also  shocked 
to  have  him  speak  thus  to  me.  I  left  the  room  and 
avoided  meeting  him  again.  How  he  crushed  me !  It 
made  me  feel  like  a  criminal.  God  said :  "You  had  bet 
ter  have  a  mill  stone  about  your  neck  and  be  cast  into 
the  midst  of  the  sea,  then  to  offend  (cause  to  stum 
ble)  one  of  these  little  ones."  Luke  17  :2. 

The  Protestant  Church  here  makes  a  fatal  error 
which  the  Catholic  Church  avoids.  The  ministers  of 
the  latter  have  all  young  converts  come  often  to  them 
for  instruction.  A  child  may  be  born,  but  not  being 
nursed  and  fed,  it  will  die.  God  has  commanded  them 
to  be  fed  on  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word.  My  great 
est  hindrance  has  been  from  the  lack  of  proper  Chris 
tian  teaching.  I  love  the  memory  of  my  father,  he 
used  to  have  me  read  the  Bible  to  him,  and  while  I 


50  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

did  not  enjoy  it  then,  it  is  a  blessed  memory.  The 
family  altar  is  essential  to  the  welfare  of  every  home, 
no  other  form  of  discipline  is  equal  to  it.  The  liberty, 
chivalry,  and  life  of  a  nation  live  or  die  in  proportion 
as  the  Altar  fires  live  or  die. 

"And  these  words  which  I  command  thee  this  day 
shall  be  in  thine  heart  and  thou  shall  teach  them  dili 
gently  unto  thy  children  and  shalt  talk  of  them  when 
thou  sittest  in  thine  house  and  when  thou  walkest  by 
the  way  and  when  thou  liest  down  and  when  thou 
risest  up."  Deut.  6:7.  i 

When  I  was  fifteen,  the  war  broke  out  between  the 
North  and  the  South.  My  father  saw  that  Missouri 
would  be  the  battle  ground  and  he,  with  many  others, 
took  their  families  and  negroes  and  went  South,  tak 
ing  what  the)'  could  in  wagons,  for  there  were  no  rail 
roads  then  in  that  section.  The  droves  of  cattle,  mules 
and  horses,  and  wagons  made  a  large  train.  One 
wagon  had  six  yoke  of  oxen  to  it ;  one  had  to  get  into 
it  with  a  ladder.  It  was  the  kind  that  was  used  to 
carry  freight  across  the  plains.  The  family  went  in 
the  carriage  that  my  father  brought  from  Kentucky. 
I  remember  the  time  when  this  was  purchased,  with 
the  two  dapple  gray  horses,  and  silver  mounted  har 
ness.  When  my  mother  would  drive  out  she  had  a 
driver  in  black  broadcloth,  with  a  high  silk  hat,  and  a 
boy  rode  on  a  seat  behind,  to  open  the  gates.  This  was 
one  of  the  ways  of  traveling  in  Kentucky  in  those 
days.  My  mother  was  an  aristocrat  in  her  ideas,  but 
my  father  was  not.  He  liked  no  display.  He  was  wise 
enough  to  see  the  sin  and  folly  of  it. 

After  being  on  the  road  six  weeks,  we  stopped  in 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  ,         51 

Grayson  County,  Texas,  and  bought  a  farm.  As  we 
started  from  Missouri  one  of  the  colored  women  be 
came  sick  with  typhoid  fever.  This  spread  so  that  ten 
of  the  family,  white  and  black,  were  down  at  one  time. 
As  soon  as  we  could  travel,  my  father  left  the  colored 
people  south,  and  took  his  family  back  to  Missouri. 
That  winter  going  South  was  a  great  blessing  to  me,, 
for  I  recovered  from  a  disease  that  had  made  me  an 
invalid  for  five  years — consumption  of  the  bowels. 
Poor  health  had  kept  me  out  of  school  a  great  deal. 
My  father  at  one  time  sent  me  to  Mrs.  Tillery's  board 
ing  school  in  Independence,  Missouri,  but  I  was  not 
in  the  recitation  room  more  than  half  of  the  time. 

;  After  I  recovered  my  health  in  Texas,  it  was  my 
delight  to  ride  on  horseback  with  a  girl  friend.  The 
Southern  boys  were  preparing  to  go  to  war.  Many  a 
time  did  we  sew  for  days  on  the  grey  cloth  that  the 
mothers  had  sorrowfully  spun  and  woven  and  were 
now'  working  up  into  clothes  for  their  sons ;  later  to 
be  buried  in,  far  away  from  their  loved  ones  and 
homes. 

There  were  many  good  masters.  And.  again  there 
were  bad  ones.  Whiskey  is  always  a  cruel  tyrant  and 
is  a  worse  evil  than  chattel  slavery.  We  were  often 
stopped  on  our  trip  by  Southern  troops,  in  the  Terri 
tory  and  Texas,  and  then  again  by  Northerners.  We 
passed  over  the  Pea  Ridge  battle  ground  shortly  after 
the  battle.  Oh  !  the  horrors  of  war.  We  often  stopped 
at  houses  where  the  wounded  were.  We  let  them  have 
our  pillows  and  every  bit  of  bedding  we  could  spare. 
We  went  to  our  home  in  Cass  County,  Missouri. 
x  Shortly  after  this  we,  with  all  families  living  in  that 


52  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

country,  were  commanded  by  an  order  from  Colonel 
Jim  Lane,  to  move  into  an  army  post.  This  reached 
several  counties  in  Missouri.  It  was  done  to  depopu 
late  the  country,  so  that  the  "Bushwhackers"  would 
be  forced  to  leave,  because  of  not  being  able  to  get 
food  from  the  citizens.  This  caused  much  suffering. 
But  such  is  war.  We  moved  to  Kansas  City.  I  was 
in  Independence,  Missouri  during  the  battle,  when 
General  Price  came  through.  I  went  with  a  good  wo 
man  to  the  hospital  to  help  with  the  wounded.  My 
duty  was  to  comb  the  heads  of  the  wounded.  I  had 
a  pan  of  scalding  water  near  and  would  use  the  comb 
and  shake  off  the  vermin  into  the  hot  water.  The 
Southern  and  Northern  wounded  were  in  the  same 
rooms.  In  health  they  .were  enemies,  but  I  only  saw 
kindly  feeling  and  sympathy. 

Mothers  ought  to  give  their  daughters  the  exper 
ience  of  sitting  with  the  sick ;  of  preparing  food  for 
them ;  of  binding  up  wounds.  It  is  a  pitiful  sight  to 
see  a  helpless  woman  in  the  sick  room,  ignorant 
through  lack  of  experience  and  education,  of  ways  to 
be  useful  at  the  time  and  place  where  these  character 
istics  of  woman  adorn  her  the  most  of  all  others. 

After  we  returned  from  Texas,  I  had  the  house 
work,  cooking  and  most  of  the  washing  to  do,  being 
the  eldest  child,  as  my  mother  was  sick.  The  servants 
all  gone  and  the  younger  children  going  to  school. 
Herein  was  the  curse  of  slavery.  My  father  saw  this, 
and  I  don't  believe  he  had  a  regret  when  the  slaves 
were  free.  Mothers ;  it  matters  not  what  else  you 
teach  your  daughters,  if  they  have  not  an  experience 
in  doing  the  work  themselves  about  a  home,  they  are 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  53 

sadly  deficient.  It  is  not  the  soft,  palefaced,  painted, 
fashionable  lady  we  want,  for  the  world  would  be  bet 
ter  without  her;  but  the  woman  capable  of  knowing 
how,  and  willing  to  take  a  place  in  the  home  affairs  of 
life.  To  be  womanly,  means  strength  of  character, 
virtue  and  a  power  for  good.  "Let  your  women 
be  teachers  of  good  things,"  says  the  Holy  Spirit. 
(Titus  2:3.) 

The  last  school  I  attended  was  at  Liberty,  Miss 
ouri,  taught  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Love.  Only  went  there 
a  year,  but  it  was  of  untold  value  to  me.  I  was  so 
eager  to  get  an  education.  On  account  of  ill  health 
and  the  war,  I  knew  but  little.  I  wanted  a  thorough 
education.  I  had  read  a  good  many  books,  and  would 
write  sketches ;  kept  a  diary  part  of  the  time. 

I  will  here  relate  an  incident  that  will  give  my  read 
ers  a  little  insight  into  my  impulses.  At  Liberty  School 
we  had  a  class  in  Smellie's  Natural  Philosophy." 
There  was  an  argument  among  the  girls.  Some  said 
animals  had  reasoning  faculties.  Others  said  they  had 
not.  Miss  Jennie  Johnson,  our  teacher,  said:  "Have 
that  for  a  question  to  debate  on  in  your  society."  So 
it  was  ordered.  I  was  given  the  affirmative.  The  Fri 
day  'came.  I  was  taken  by  surprise  and  was  in  con 
fusion,  when  I  saw  the  room  crowded.  The  two  other 
societies  of  the  Seminary,  "The  Mary  Lyons"  and 
"Rising  Star,"  also  all  the  teachers,  were  present.  Our 
Society  was  the  "Eunomian."  I  had  made  no  prepar 
ations.  When  I  was  called  I  know  I  looked  ridicu 
lously  blank.  The  president  tried  to  keep  her  face . 
straight.  I  got  no  farther  than,  "Miss  President."  All 
burst  out  in  uncontrollable  laughter.  I  went  to  my 


54  THE   USE  AND   NEED   OF 

seat  put  my  face  in  my  arms  and  turned  my  back  to 
the  audience.  I  wept  tears  of  humiliation.  I  felt  dis 
graced.  I  thought  of  what  a  shame  this  would  be  to 
my  parents.  However  after  this  I  must  be  considered 
a  "Silly"  by  my  schoolmates.  These  things  nerved  me. 
I  dried  my  tears,  turned  around  in  my  seat,  looked  up, 
and  the  moral  force  it  required  to  do  this  was  almost 
equal  to  that  which  smashed  a  saloon.  I  arose  and 
said :  "Miss  President,  I  am  ready  to  state  my  case." 
I  began  in  this  style :  "I  know  animals  have  the  power 
to  reason  for  my  brothers  cured  a  dog  from  sucking 
eggs  by  having  him  take  a  hot  one  in  his  mouth,  and 
it  was  the  last  egg  we  ever  knew  him  to  pick  up. 
Why?  Because  he  remembered  the  hot  one  and  rea 
soned  that  he  might  get  burned.  Why  is  it  that  a 
horse  will  like  one  person  more  than  another  ?  Because 
he  is  capable  of  reasoning  and  knows  who  is  the  best 
to  him."  I  went  on  in  this  homely  style  and  spoke 
with  a  vehemence  which  said :  "I  will  make  my  point," 
which  I  did  amidst  the  cheers  of  the  school.  I  was 
eighteen  at  this  time  and  you  would  say:  "You  must 
have  been  rather  green."  So  I  was  in  some  things. 

I  believe  I  have  always  failed  in  everything  I  un 
dertook  to  do  the  first  time,  but  I  learned  only  by  ex 
perience,  paid  dearly  for  it,  and  valued  it  afterwards. 
My  failures  have  been  my  best  teachers.  I  see  no  one 
more  awkward  than  I  once  was,  but  I  determined  to 
conquer.  My  defects  were  the  great  incentives  to  per 
severance,  when  I  felt  I  was  right. 

I  shall  not  in  this  book  speak  much  of  my  love  af 
fairs,  but  they  were,  nevertheless,  an  important  part 
of  my  life.  I  was  a  great  lover.  I  used  to  think  a  per- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  55 

son  never  could  love  but  once  in  this  life,  but  I  often 
now  say,  I  would  not  want  a  heart  that  could  hold  but 
one  love.  It  was  not  the  beauty  of  face  or  form  that 
was  the  most  attractive  to  me  in  young  gentlemen,  or 
ladies,  but  that  of  the  mind.  Seeing  this  the  case  with 
myself,  I  tried  to  acquire  knowledge  to  make  my  com 
pany  agreeable.  I  see  young  ladies,  and  gentlemen, 
who  entertain  each  other  with  their  silly  jokes  and 
gigglings  that  are  disgusting.  When  I  had  company 
I  always  directed  the  conversation  so  that  my  friend 
would  teach  me  something,  or  I  would  teach  him.  I 
would  read  the  poets,  and  Scott's  writings  and  his 
tory.  Read  Josephus,  mythology  and  the  Bible  to 
gether,  and  never  read  a  course  that  taught  me  as 
much.  I  would  go  to  the  country  dances  and  some 
times  to  balls  in  the  city.  But  my  native  modesty  pre 
vented  me  from  ever  dancing  a  round  dance  with  a 
gentleman.  I  can  not  think  this  hugging  school  com 
patible  with  a  true  woman.  The  church  did  not  object 
to  this :  I  would  teach  Sunday  School  at  the  same  time. 
No  one  taught  me  that  this  was  wrong.  One  thing 
was  a  tower  of  defense  to  me.  I  always,  when  possi 
ble,  read  the  Bible  and  would  pray.  After  retiring 
would  get  up  and  kneel,  feeling  that  to  pray  in  bed 
only,  was  disrespectful  to  God.  If  the  angels  in  hea 
ven  would  prostrate  themselves  before  Him,  I  a  poor 
sinner  should.  And  right  here,  I  believe  in  "advanc 
ing  on  your  knees."  Abraham  prostrated  himself,  so 
did  David  and  Solomon,  Elijah,  Daniel,  Paul,  and 
even  our  sinless  Advocate.  Why  did  the  Holy  Ghost 
state  the  position  so  often?  For  our  example,  of 
course.  There  are  no  space  writers  in  the  Scriptures. 


56  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

I  often  had  doubts  as  to  whether  the  Bible  was  the 
work  of  God  or  man.  I  kept  these  doubts  to  myself, 
for  I  thought  infidelity  a  disgrace.  I  wanted  to  believe 
the  Bible  the  Word  of  God.  I  early  saw  that  to  close 
the  Bible  was  to  shut  out  all  knowledge  of  the  purpose 
of  life.  Without  its  revelations  one  does  not  know 
why  we  are  born,  why  we  live,  or  where  we  go  after 
death.  We  can  see  the  purpose  of  all  nature,  but  not 
of  this  life  of  ours,  and  God  had,  by  revelation,  to 
make  this  known. 

The  Bible  was  a  mystery  to  me.  It  often  seemed  to 
be  a  contradiction.  I  did  not  love  to  read  it,  but  above 
all  things,  I  did  not  want  to  be  a  hypocrite.  I  was  de 
termined  to  try  to  do  my  part.  I  would  pray  for  the 
same  thing  over  and  over  again,  so  as  to  be  in  earnest, 
and  think  of  what  I  was  asking.  My  mind  was  dis 
tracted  by  thoughts  of  the  world.  I  said,  if  there  is  a 
God,  he  will  not  hear  the  prayer  of  those,  so  disre 
spectful  as  not  to  think  of  what  they  ask.  I  never 
seemed  to  get  rid  of  this,  unless  at  times,  when  I  would 
have  some  sorrow  of  heart.  "By  the  sadness  of  the 
countenance,  the  heart  is  made  better."  (Eccles.  7:3.) 

I  do  not  believe  the  Bible  because  I  understand  it; 
for  there  are  few  things  of  revelation  that  I  do  under 
stand.  Creation  is  a  mystery,  still  we  know  everything 
had  a  beginning.  I  do  not  know  how  things  grow  out 
of  the  earth.  Why  they  are  green.  Why  grass  makes 
wool  on  a  sheep  and  hair  on  a  cow,  but  I  know  these 
are  facts.  I  cannot  understand  how  the  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  cleanses  from  sin,  neither  do  I  understand  that 
greatest  of  all  mysteries,  the  new  birth,  but  nothing 
is  more  positively  a  fact  in  my  experience. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  57 

God  is  not  perceived  by  the  five  senses.  "The  king 
dom  of  God  cometh  not  by  observation."  (Luke 
17:20.)  The  things  that  are  seen  are  temporal,  but 
those  that  are  unseen  are  eternal.  What  a  sin  of  pre 
sumption  to  question  God  in  any  of  His  providences. 
What  God  says  and  does  is  wisdom,  righteousness  and 
power. 

The  book  of  Psalms  condemned  me.  I  said,  I  never 
felt  like  David.  I  cannot  rejoice.  Still  I  felt  that  I 
ought  to,  but  instead,  a  constant  feeling  of  condemna 
tion  and  conviction.  This  was  torture  to  me.  I  would 
often  have  been  willing  to  have  died,  if  I  thought  it 
would  have  been  an  eternal  sleep.  My  childhood  and 
girlhood  were  not  happy.  I  had  so  many  disappoint 
ments.  I  was  called  "hard  headed"  by  my  parents.  I 
never  was  free  to  have  what  I  wished ;  something 
would  come  between  me  and  what  I  wanted.  No  one 
understood  me  so  well  as  my  darling  aunt  Hope  Hill, 
my  mother's  sister.  She*  seemed  to  read  me  and  would 
talk  to  me  of  persons  and  things,  answering  the  very 
cry  of  my  heart.  My  mother  would  often  let  me  stay 
with  her  for  months.  She  had  five  sons,  but  no  daugh 
ters  and  she  was  very  fond  of  me.  This  lesson  she 
taught  me :  A  party  of  ladies  came  out  from  Inde 
pendence  to  spend  the  day  with  her.  Mrs.  Woodson 
and  a  Mrs.  Porter,  wife  of  Dr.  Porter,  I  remember  the 
latter,  one  of  the  handsomest  women  I  ever  saw,  beau 
tiful  feet,  hands,  hair,  and  a  woman  who  knew  it,  and 
it  was  a  matter  of  the  greatest  pride  with  her,  these 
charms.  I  was  very  much  captivated  by  her  splendid 
appearance,  and  could  not  keep  my  eyes  from  her. 
Next  day  Mrs.  John  Staton,  a  country  neighbor  of 


58  THE    USE   AND    NEED  OF 

my  aunt's,  came  in  to  make  a  visit.  She  was  very 
plain,  wore  a  calico  dress,  waist-apron,  and  she  was 
knitting  a  sock.  After  she  left  aunt  said  to  me: 
"Carry,  you  did  not  seem  to  like  Mrs.  Staton's  society 
as  you  did  Mrs.  Porter's;  but  one  sentence  of  Mrs. 
Staton's  is  worth  all  Mrs.  Porter  said.  Mrs.  Porter 
lives  for  this  world,  Mrs.  Staton  lives  for  God."  This 
lesson  I  did  not  learn  then,  but  have  since.  Oh !  for 
the  old-fashioned  women. 

In  gratitude  for  the  memory  of  such  a  wise  aunt  as 
my  aunt  Hope  Hill,  who  has  been  dead  for  years.  In 
the  fall  of  1907,  I  heard  through  the  state  department 
of  Washington,  D.  C,  that  Aunt  Hope's  youngest  son 
was  insane  in  Mexico.  We  had  thought  him  dead  for 
years.  It  made  me  very  unhappy  to  know  that  this 
relation  was  so  far  away  and  that  none  of  the  relatives 
were  in  a  condition  to  go  to  his  aid.  This  aunt  was 
very  dear  to  me,  and  this  cousin  was  my  own  flesh 
and  blood.  "He  that  careth  not  for  his  own  hath  de 
nied  the  faith  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel."  At  last, 
although  not  knowing  how  I  would  ever  get  through 
such  a  task,  I  took  ship  at  Galveston  for  Guadalajara, 
Mexico,  took  possession  of  my  cousin  and  with  the 
help  of  God  I  brought  him  to  Independence,  Missouri, 
where  he  is  being  taken  care  of  in  the  Institution  in  St. 
Joseph  near  by  his  mother's  grave.  That  dear  mother 
who  died  from  anxiety  over  a  wayward,  drunken  son. 
My  dear  aunt  living  in  Macon  City,  Missouri,  wrote 
me  after  I  returned,  "Carry  no  human  would,  or  could 
have  done  what  you  did." 

MY    EXPERIENCE    WITH    SPIRITUALISM. 

Just  at  the  close  of  the  war  when  we  were  on    a 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  59 

farm  in  Cass  County,  Missouri,  a  colony  of  spiritual 
ists  were  near  us,  Mrs.  Hawkins,  the  medium  was 
about  GO  years  old,  very  peculiar,  and  finely  educated. 
My  father  had  some  farms  he  was  selling  for  other 
people.  He  took  Mrs.  Hawkins  and  several  of  her 
company  to  look  at  a  farm  with  a  view  of  selling  it. 
When  she  saw  it  from  a  hill  some  distance  off  she  said : 
''That  is  the  place  I  saw  in  Connecticut."  She  bought 
it  for  a  town  site.  In  writing  to  Washington  to  give 
it  a  name,  the  word  "Peculiar"  was  selected,  and  so  it 
has  ever  been  called.  Mrs.  Hawkins  took  a  great 
fancy  to  me.  She  would  tell  me  of  great  things  she 
had  done,  then  say:  "Could  Jesus  Christ  have  done 
more  ?"  I  had  never  heard  of  Spiritualism  that  I  knew 
of,  up  to  this  time.  This  colony  brought  mechanics, 
merchants  and  musicians  with  them.  I  was  in  great 
Confusion  about  this  matter,  not  knowing  what  to 
think,  for  she  did  some  superhuman  things.  Upstairs 
we  had  a  large  safe  full  of  old  books.  I  was  looking 
over  them  one  day,  came  to  a  little  book  called  "Spirit 
ualism  Exposed."  I  immediately  went  to  the  orchard, 
sat  under  a  tree,  as  my  custom  was,  when  I  wished  to 
read,  for  there  I  could  be  quiet.  I  read  the  little  book 
through,  before  I  stopped.  This  blessed  lesson  showed 
me  to  my  entire  satisfaction,  that  modern  spiritualism 
is  witchcraft.  The  writer  took  the  instances  in  the 
Bible.  God  told  Moses :  "You  must  not  suffer  a  witch 
to  live ;"  see  it  at  the  court  of  Pharaoh,  and  that  they 
have  "superhuman  power."  There  are  two  kingdoms. 
One  of  darkness,  and  one  of  light.  God  rules  in  the 
latter;  The  Devil  in  the  former.  Both  have  powers 
above  the  power  of  man.  The  magicians  at  Pharoah's 


GO  THE   USE   AND    NEED   OF 

court  were  wizards ;  and  the  woman  of  Endor  was  a 
witch.  The  Bible  speaks  of  dealing  with  "familiar 
spirits."  Manasseh,  Saul,  and  other  Kings,  were  curs 
ed  for  such.  Gal.  5th  has  it  as  one  of  the  "mortal 
sins/'  The  Devil  can  do  lying  miracles  to  deceive.  He 
will  heal  the  body,  or  appear  to  do  it,  to  damn  the  soul. 
I  find  this  in  "Christian  Science."  This  is  the  mark  of 
the  "Beast"  or  carnal  mind.  Man  is  but  a  beast  with 
out  the  new  birth,  or  spirit  of  God.  Carnality  always 
seeks  to  elevate  itself.  Grace  is  humble,  and  sees  noth 
ing  good  outside  of  God.  The  mark  of  the  beast,  is 
the  number,  or  mark  of  a  man ;  that  is  carnality  or  the 
Beast.  Rev.  13:18. 

There  are  many  false  prophets  in  these  last  days, 
"Go  not  out  to  meet  them."  Go  not  out  of  God's 
Word,  all  false  religions  are  propagated  by  teachings 
and  writings  outside  of  the  Word.  The  Devil  through 
all  these  heresies  is  deceiving  the  people  who  through 
them  are,  "denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them,"  by 
the  great  atonement,  the  life-giving  blood. 

My  definition  of  Christian  Science  is  this,  "the  pres 
ence  of  all  lies,  and  the  absence  of  all  truth." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

MY    FIRST    MARRIAGE. A     BITTER     DISAPPOINTMENT. 

MOTHER  GLOYD. MY  DRUGGED  AND  WHISKEY   MURD 
ERED    HUSBAND. LOSING  MY  POSITION  AS  TEACHER. 

SECOND      MARRIAGE. LOSS     OF      PROPERTY. KEEPING 

HOTEL. STRUGGLES    FOR    DAILY    FOOD. THE    AFFLIC 
TIONS  OF  MY  CHILD. ANSWER  TO  PRAYER. 

In  the  fall  of  1865,  Dr.  Gloyd,  a  young  physician, 
called  to  see  my  father  to  secure  the  country  school, 
saying  he  wished  to  locate  in  our  section  of  the  coun 
try,  and  wanted  to  take  a  school  that  winter,  and  then 
he  could  decide  where  he  would  like  to  practice  his 
profession. 

This  man  was  a  thorough  student,  spoke,  and  read, 
several  different  languages.  He  boarded  with  us.  I 
liked  him,  and  stood  in  awe  of  him  because  of  his  su 
perior  education,  never  thinking  that  he  loved  me, 
until  he  astonished  me  one  evening  by  kissing  me.  I 
had  never  had  a  gentleman  to  take  such  a  privilege 
and  felt  shocked,  threw  up  my  hands  to  my  face,  say 
ing  several  times:  "I  am  ruined."  My  aunt  and  moth 
er  had  instilled  great  reserve  in  my  actions,  when  in 
company  of  gentlemen,  so  much  so  that  I  had  never 
allowed  one  to  sit  near  or  hold  my  hand.  This 
was  not  because  I  did  not  like  their  society, 
but  I  had  been  taught  that  to  inspire  respect  or 
love  from  a  man,  you  must  keep  him  at  a  distance. 
This  often  made  we  awkward  and  reserved,  but  it  did 
me  no  harm.  When  I  learned  that  Dr.  Gloyd  loved 


62  THE    USE   AND    NEED   OF 

me,  I  began  to  love  him.  He  was  an  only  child.  His 
parents  had  but  a  modest  living.  My  mother  was  not 
pleased  with  seeing  a  growing  attachment  between  us, 
for  there  was  another  match  she  had  planned  for  me. 
When  she  saw  this  she  would  not  allow  me  to  sit  alone 
in  the  room  with  him,  so  our  communication  was 
mostly  by  writing  letters.  I  never  knew  Shakespeare 
until  he  read  it  to  me,  and  I  became  an  ardent  admirer 
of  the  greatest  poet.  The  volume  of  Shakespeare  on 
his  table  was  our  postoffice.  In  the  morning  at  break 
fast  he  would  manage  to  call  the  name  ''Shakespeare;" 
then  I  would  know  there  was  a  letter  for  me  in  its 
leaves.  After  teaching  three  months  he  went  to  Hoi- 
den,  Missouri,  and  located;  sent  for  his  father  and 
mother  and  in  two  years  we  were  married. 

My  father  and  mother  warned  me  that  the  doctor 
was  addicted  to  drink,  but  I  had  no  idea  of  the  curse 
of  rum.  I  did  not  fear  anything,  for  I  was  in  love, 
and  doubted  in  him  nothing.  When  Dr.  Gloyd  came 
up  to  marry  me  the  21st  of  November,  18(57,  I  noticed 
with  pain,  that  his  countenance  was  not  bright,  he  was 
changed.  The  day  was  one  of  the  gloomiest  I  ever 
saw,  a  mist  fell,  and  not  a  ray  of  sunshine.  I  felt  a  fore 
boding  on  the  day  I  had  looked  forward  to,  as  being 
one  of  the  happiest.  I  did  not  find  Dr.  Gloyd  the  lover 
I  expected.  He  was  kind  but  seemed  to  want  to  be 
away  from  me ;  used  to  sit  and  read,  when  I  was  so 
hungry  for  his  caresses  and  love.  I  have  heard  that 
this  is  the  experience  of  many  other  young  married 
women.  They  are  so  disappointed  that  their  husbands 
change  so  after  marriage.  With  my  observation  and 
experience  I  believe  that  men  have  it  in  their  power 


CARRY    A.    NATION    AT    26    YEARS    OF    AGE. 


64  THE    USE   AND    NEED   OF 

to  keep  the  love  of  ninety-nine  women  out  of  a  hun 
dred.  Why  do  women  lose  love  for  their  husbands? 
I  find  it  is  mostly  due  to  indifference  on  the  part  of 
the  husband.  I  often  hear  the  experience  of  those  poor 
abandoned  sisters.  I  ask,  Why  are  you  in  this  house 
of  sin  and  death?  When  I  can  get  their  confidence, 
many  of  them  say :  "I  married  a  man ;  he  drank,  and 
went  with  other  women.  I  got  discouraged  or  spite 
ful,  and  went  to  the  bad  als®."  I  find  that  drink  causes 
so  much  enmity  between  the  sexes.  Drinking  men 
neglect  their  wives.  Their  wives  become  jealous. 
Men  often  go  with  abandoned  women  under  the  influ 
ence  of  that  drink  that  animates  the  animal  passions 
and  asks  not  for  the  association  of  love,  but  the  grati 
fication  of  lust.  Men  do  not  go  to  the  houses  of  ill- 
fame  to  meet  women  they  love  but  oftener  those  they 
almost  hate.  The  drink  habit  destroys  in  men  the  ap 
preciation  of  a  home  life,  and  when  a  woman  leaves 
all  others  for  one  man,  she  does,  and  should,  expect 
his  companionship,  and  is  not  satisfied  without  it. 
Libertines,  taking  advantage  of  this,  select  women 
whose  husbands  are  neglectful,  and  he  wins  victims 
by  his  attentions,  and  poor  woman,  as  at  the  first,  is 
beguiled.  Marriage,  while  it  is  the  blissful  consum 
mation  of  pure  love,  is  the  most  serious  of  all  relations, 
and  girls  and  boys  should  early  be  instructed  about 
the  secrets  of  their  own  natures,  the  object  of  mar 
riage,  and  the  serious  results  of  any  marriage  where 
true  love  is  not  the  object.  I  confess  myself  that  I 
was  not  fit  to  marry  with  the  ignorance  of  its  holy  pur 
pose.  Sunday  School  teachers,  mothers,  fathers  and 
ministers,  look  into  God's  word  and  see  the  results  of 

4 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  65 

sin.  God  has  written  of  this  so  as  to  force  you  to  edu 
cate  your  children.  Talk  freely.  Truth  will  purify 
everything  it  comes  in  contact  with.  Ignorance  is  not 
innocence,  but  is  the  promoter  of  crime:  "My  people 
are  destroyed  for  lack  of  knowledge."  Hosea  4:6. 

About  five  days  after  we  were  married,  Dr.  Gloyd 
came  in,  threw  himself  on  the  bed  and  fell  asleep.  I 
was  in  the  next  room  and  saw  his  mother  bow  down 
over  his  face.  She  did  not  know  I  saw  her.  When 
she  left,  I  did  the  same  thing,  and  the  fumes  of  liquor 
came  in  my  face.  I  was  terror  stricken,  and  from  that 
time  on,  I  knew  why  he  was  so  changed.  Not  one 
happy  moment  did  I  see !  I  cried  most  all  the  time.  My 
husband  seemed  to  understand  that  I  knew  his  condi 
tion.  Twice,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  he  remarked :  "Oh ! 
Pet,  I  would  give  my  right  arm  to  make  you  happy." 
He  would  be  out  until  late  every  night.  I  never  closed 
my  eyes.  His  sign  in  front  of  the  door  on  the  street 
would  creak  in  the  wind,  and  I  would  sit  by  the  win 
dow  waiting  to  hear  his  footsteps.  I  never  saw  him 
stagger.  He  would  lock  himself  up  in  the  "Masonic 
Lodge"  and  allow  no  one  to  see  him.  People  would 
call  for  him  in  case  of  sickness,  but  he  could  not  be 
found. 

My  anguish  was  unspeakable,  I  was  comparatively 
a  child.  I  wanted  some  one  to  help  me.  He  was  a 
mason.  I  talked  to  a  Mr.  Hulitt,  a  brother  mason,  I 
begged  of  him  to  help  me  save  my  precious  husband. 
I  talked  to  a  dear  friend,  Mrs.  Clara  Mize,  a  Christian, 
hoping  to  get  some  help  in  that  direction,  but  all  they 
could  say,  was:  "Oh,  what  pity,  to  see  a  man  like  Dr. 
Glovd  throw  himself  away !"  The  wrorld  wras  all  at 


66  THE    USE   AND    NEED   OF 

once  changed  to  me,  it  was  like  a  place  of  torture.  I 
thought  certainly,  there  must  be  a  way  to  prevent  this 
suicide  and  murder.  I  now  know,  that  the  impulse 
was  born  in  me  then  to  combat  to  the  death  this  in 
humanity  to  man. 

I  believe  the  masons  were  a  great  curse  to  Dr.  Gloyd. 
These  men  would  drink  with  him.  There  is  no  society 
or  business  that  separates  man  and  wife,  or  calls  men 
from  their  homes  at  night,  that  produces  any  good  re 
sults.  I  believe  that  secret  societies  are  unscriptural, 
and  that  the  Masonic  Lodge  has  been  the  ruin  of  many 
a  home  and  character. 

I  was  so  ignorant  I  did  not  know  that  I  owed  a  duty 
to  myself  to  avoid  gloomy  thoughts ;  did  not  know  that 
a  mother  could  entail  a  curse  on  her  offspring  before 
it  was  born.  Oh,  the  curse  that  comes  through  hered 
ity,  and  this  liquor  evil,  a  disease  that  entails  more  de 
pravity  on  children  unborn,  than  all  else,  unless  it  be 
tobacco.  There  is  an  object  lesson  taught  in  the  Bible. 
The  mother  of  Samson  was  told  by  an  angel  to  "drink 
neither  wine  nor  strong  drink,"  Judges  13  :4,  before 
her  child  was  born.  God  shows  by  this,  that  these 
things  are  injurious.  Mothers  often  make  drunkards 
of  their  own  children,  before  they  are  born.  My  par 
ents  heard  that  Dr.  Gloyd  was  drinking.  My  father 
came  down  to  visit  us,  and  I  went  home  with  him.  My 
mother  told  me  I  must  never  go  back  to  my  husband 
again.  I  knew  time  was  near  at  hand,  when  I  would 
be  helpless,  with  a  drunken  husband,  and  no  means 
of  support.  What  could  I  do?  I  kept  writing  to 
"Charlie,"  as  I  called  him.  He  came  to  see  me  once ; 
my  mother  treated  him  as  a  stranger.  He  expressed 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  67 

much  anxiety  about  my  confinement  in  September ;  got 
a  party  to  agree  to  come  for  him  at  the  time ;  but  my 
mother  would  not  allow  it.  In  six  weeks  after  my  lit 
tle  girl  was  born,  my  mother  sent  my  brother  with  me 
to  Holden  to  get  my  trunk  and  other  things  to  bring 
them  home.  Her  words  to  me  were :  "If  you  stay  in 
Holden,  never  return  home  again."  My  husband  beg 
ged  me  to  stay  with  him;  he  said:  "Pet,  if  you  leave 
me,  I  will  be  a  dead  man  in  six  months."  I  wanted  to 
stay  with  him,  but  dared  not  disobey  my  mother  and 
be  thrown  out  of  shelter,  for  I  saw  I  could  not  depend 
on  my  husband.  I  did  not  know  then  that  drinking 
men  were  drugged  men,  diseased  men.  His  mother 
told  me  that  when  he  was  growing  up  to  manhood, 
his  father,  Harry  Gloyd,  was  Justice  of  the  Peace  in 
Newport,  Ohio,  twelve  years,  and  that  Charlie  was  so 
disgusted  with  the  drink  cases,  that  he  would  go  in  a 
room  and  lock  himself  in,  to  get  out  of  their  hearing; 
that  he  never  touched  a  drop  until  he  went  in  the  army, 
the  118th  regiment,  Thomas  L.  Young  being  the  Col 
onel.  Dr.  Gloyd  was  a  captain.  In  the  society  of  these 
officers  he,  for  the  first  time,  began  to  drink  intoxi 
cants.  He  was  fighting  to  free  others  from  slavery, 
and  he  became  a  worse  slave  than  those  he  fought  to 
free.  In  a  little  less  than  six  months  from  the  day  my 
child  was  born,  I  got  a  telegram  telling  of  his  death. 
His  father  died  a  few  months  before  he  did,  and 
mother  Gloyd  was  left  entirely  alone. 

Mother  Gloyd  was  a  true  type  of  a  New  England 
housewife,  and  I  had  always  lived  in  the  south.  I 
could  not  say  at  this  time  that  I  loved  her,  although  I 
respected  her  very  highly.  But  I  wanted  to  be  with 


68  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

the  mother  of  the  man  I  loved  more  than  my  own  life ; 
I  wanted  to  supply  his  place  if  possible.  My  father 
gave  me  several  lots ;  by  selling  one  of  these  and  Dr. 
Gloyd's  library  and  instruments,  I  built  a  house  of 
three  rooms  on  one  of  the  lots  and  rented  the  house 
we  lived  in,  which  brought  us  in  a  little  income,  but 
not  sufficient  to  support  us.  I  wanted  to  prepare  my 
self  to  teach,  and  I  attended  the  Normal  Institute  of 
Warrensburg.  I  was  not  able  to  pay  my  board  and 
Mr.  Archie  Gilkerson  and  wife  charged  me  nothing 
and  were  as  kind  to  me  as  parents.  God  bless  them ! 
I  got  a  certificate  and  was  given  the  primary  room  in 
the  Public  School  at  Holden.  Mother  Gloyd  kept 
house  and  took  care  of  Charlien,  my  little  girl,  and 
I  made  the  living.  This  continued  for  four  years.  I 
lost  my  position  as  teacher  in  that  school  this  way: 
A  Dr.  Moore  was  a  member  of  the  board,  he  criticised 
me  for  the  way  I  had  the  little  ones  read ;  for  instance, 
in  the  sentence,  "I  saw  a  man,"  I  had  them  use  the 
short  a  instead  of  the  long  a,  and  so  with  the  article  a ; 
having  them  read  it  as  we  would  speak  it  naturally. 
He  made  this  serious  objection,  and  I  lost  my  place 
and  Dr.  Moore's  niece  got  my  room  as  teacher.  This 
was  a  severe  blow  to  me,  for  I  could  not  leave  mother 
Gloyd  and  Charlien  to  teach  in  another  place,  and  I 
knew  of'  no  other  way  of  making  a  living  except  by 
teaching.  I  resolved  then  to  get  married.  I  made  it 
a  subject  of  prayer  and  went  to  the  Lord  explaining 
things  about  this  way.  I  said :  ''My  Lord,  you  see  the 
situation  I  cannot  take  care  of  mother  and  Charlien. 
I  want  you  to  help  me.  If  it  be  best  for  me  to  marry 
I  will  do  so.  I  have  no  one  picked  out,  but  I  want  you 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  69 

to  select  the  one  that  you  think  best.  I  want  to  give 
you  my  life,  and  I  want  by  marrying  to  glorify  and 
serve  you,  as  well  as  to  take  care  of  mother  and  Char- 
lien  and  be  a  good  wife."  I  have  always  been  a  liter- 
alist.  I  find  out  that  it  is  the  only  way  to  interpret  the 
Bible.  When  God  says :  "Commit  thy  way  unto  the 
Lord;  trust  also  in  him  he  shall  bring  it  to  pass/'  Ps. 
37 :5,  I  believe  that  to  be  the  way  to  act.  My  faith  does 
not  at  all  times  grasp  this  or  other  promises,  but  there 
are  times  when  I  can  appropriate  them  and  make  them 
mine;  there  are  times  when  I  can  pray  with  faith,  be 
lieving  that  I  have  the  things  I  pray  for,  other -times 
it  is  not  so. 

In  about  ten  days  from  that  time  I  made  this  a  sub 
ject  of  prayer,  I  was  walking  down  the  street  in  Hoi- 
den  and  passed  a  place  where  Mr.  Nation  was  stand 
ing,  who  had  come  up  from  Warrensburg,  where  he 
was  then  editing  the  "Warrensburg  Journal."  He 
was  standing  in  the  door  with  his  back  to  me,  but 
turned  and  spoke.  There  was  a  peculiar  thrill  which 
passed  through  my  heart  which  made  me  start.  The 
next  day  I  got  a  letter  from  him,  asking  me  to  cor 
respond  with  him.  I  was  not  surprised ;  had  been  ex 
pecting  something  like  it.  I  knew  that  this  was  in  an 
swer  to  my  prayer,  and  David  Nation  was  to  be  the 
husband  God  selected  for  me.  He  was  nineteen  years 
older  than  I,  was  very  good  looking,  and  was  a  well- 
informed,  successful  lawyer,  also  a  minister  in  the 
Christian  Church.  My  friends  in  Holden  opposed  this 
because  of  the  difference  in  our  ages  and  of  his  large 
family.  I  gave  him  the  loving  confidence  of  a  true 
wife  and  he  was  often  very  kind  to  me.  We  were  mar- 


70  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

riecl  within  six  weeks  from  the  time  I  got  the  letter 
from  him.  Mother  Gloyd  went  to  live  with  us  and 
continued  to  do  so  for  fifteen  years,  until  she  died.  My 
married  life  with  Mr.  Nation  was  not  a  happy  one.  I 
found  out  that  he  deceived  me  in  so  many  things.  I 
can  remember  the  first  time  I  found  this  out.  I  felt 
that  something  was  broken  that  could  never  be  mend 
ed.  What  a  shattered  thing  is  betrayed  confidence ! 
Oh,  husbands  and  wives,  do  not  lie  to  each  other,  even 
though  you  should  do  a  vile  act ;  confess  to  the  truth 
of  the  matter !  There  will  be  some  trouble  over  it,  but 
you  can  never  lose  your  love  for  a  truthful  person.  I 
hated  lying  because  I  loved  the  truth.  I  hated  dis 
honesty  because  I  loved  honesty.  I  loved,  therefore 
I  hated.  I  love  mankind  therefore  I  hated  the  enemies 
of  mankind.  I  loved  God  and  therefore  hated  the 
devil.  Truth  is  the  pearl  of  great  price.  Whoso  get- 
teth  it  has  all  earth  and  heaven. 

I  shall  not  in  this  book  give  to  the  public  the  details 
of  my  life  as  a  wife  of  David  Nation  any  more  than 
possible.  He  and  I  agreed  in  but  few  things,  and  still 
we  did  not  have  the  outbreaks  many  husbands  and 
wives  have.  The  most  serious  trouble  that  ever  rose 
between  us  was  in  regard  to  Christianity.  My  Chris 
tian  life  was  an  offence  unto  him,  and  I  found  out  if  I 
yielded  to  his  ideas  and  views  that  I  would  be  false 
to  every  true  motive.  He  saw  that  I  resented  this  in 
fluence  and  it  caused  him  to  be  suspicious  and  jeal 
ous.  I  think  my  combative  nature  was  largely  de 
veloped  by  living  with  him,  for  I  had  to  fight  for 
everything  that  I  kept.  About  two  years  after  we  were 
married  we  exchanged  our  mutual  properties  for  seven- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  71 

teen  hundred  acres  of  land  on  the  San  Bernard  river  in 
Texas,  part  of  which  was  a  cotton  plantation.  We 
knew  nothing  of  the  cultivation  of  cotton  or  of  planta 
tion  life.  We  took  a  car  load  of  good  furniture  with 
us  and  some  fine  stock,  hogs  and  cattle.  In  packing 
up  to  go  to  Texas  there  was  a  widow  who  assisted  ir.e. 
In  paying  her  for  her  services,  I  would  not  pay  her 
money,  but  gave  her  the  things  I  did  not  want  to  carry 
with  me.  I  remember  I  left  about  eight  bushels  of 
potatoes  in  the  cellar  for  her  and  the  night  we  left 
they  froze.  I  felt  very  conscience-stricken  for  the  way 
I  treated  this  poor  woman. 

We  were  as  helpless  on  the  plantation  as  little  chil 
dren.  The  cultivation  of  cotton  was  very  different 
from  anything  we  had  been  used  to.  A  bad  neighbor 
threw  all  of  our  plows  in  the  Bernard  river  and  every 
thing  seemed  to  go  wrong.  We  had  eight  horses  die 
in  the  pasture  the  spring  after  we  moved  there.  Soon 
the  money  we  took  with  us  was  gone  and  Mr.  Nation 
became  discouraged.  He  went  to  Brazoria,  the  county 
seat,  and  stayed  six  weeks  during  court,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  entering  the  practice  of  law  again. 

The  cotton  had  been  planted  before  he  left.  A 
neighbor  named  Martin  Hanks  came  over  and  told  me 
not  to  allow  the  cotton  to  go  to  waste,  said  he  would 
lend  me  his  plows,  and  advised  me  to  get  a  colored 
man  named  Edmond,  who  was  his  master's  overseer 
in  slave  time,  to  manage  this  crop  for  me.  I  hired  five 
other  negroes,  paying  them  with  things  I  had  in  the 
house,  for  I  had  not  a  cent  of  money.  The  result  was 
a  fine  crop  of  cotton.  Mr.  Nation's .  daughter  Lola, 
was  then  eleven  vears  old,  and  Charlien  was  three 


72  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

years  younger.  We  lived  six  miles  from  a  school,  and 
just  at  a  time  when  the  girls  needed  school  most.  I 
began  to  see  what,  a  disastrous  move  we  had  made.  I 
became  very  despondent  and  sick  at  heart.  I  was 
young  and  did  not  know  then  how  to  contend  with 
disappointments  on  every  hand.  At  one  time  I  was 
quite  sick  with  chills  and  fever.  I  had  nothing  in  the 
house  but  meal,  some  fat  bacon  and  sweet  potatoes. 
There  was  a  poor  old  man  that  we  took  in  for  charity 
who  was  with  us,  named  Mr.  Holt.  I  called  him  to 
my  bedside  and  asked  him  to  go  to  the  patch  and  dig 
a  bushel  of  sweet  potatoes  and  take  them  to  town  and 
exchange  them  for  a  little  tea,  sugar,  lemons  and 
bread.  He  failed  in  this  and  was  returning  when  he 
met  a  dear,  sweet  woman,  Mrs.  Underwood,  whom  I 
called  my  'Texas  Mother."  She  called  to  Mr.  Holt, 
and  asked  how  I  was.  He  told  her  I  was  sick  and 
out  of  anything  to  eat.  She  took  the  potatoes  and  sent 
the  articles  I  wanted.  I  believe  I  should  have  died  had 
he  returned  without  them,  for  I  was  almost  famished 
for  good  food. 

I  was  in  Columbia  one  day  and  stopped  at  the  Old 
Columbia  Hotel,  owned  by  the  Messrs.  Park,  two 
brothers.  Mrs.  Ballenger  a  widow  was  renting  it 
from  Messrs.  Park.  I  said  to  them :  "If  you  ever  need 
a  tenant,  send  for  me."  In  a  few  months  Mrs.  Bal- 
lenger's  daughter  died  and  she  left.  Mr.  Park  sent 
for  me  to  come.  We  had  a  carload  of  good  plain  furn 
iture  and  bedding,  some  handsome  tableware,  but  no 
money  to  buy  provisions. 

Dear  old  mother  Gloyd  was  a  great  help  to  me.  She 
had  once  kept  hotel  herself.  I  did  not  ask  credit,  at 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  73 

the  store  and  this  is  how  I  got  the  money  to  begin 
keeping  hotel:  There  was  an  Irish  ditcher  named 
Dunn,  whose  wife  did  my  work.  She  was. a  good 
cook.  I  borrowed  of  Mr.  Dunn  three  dollars  and  fifty 
cents,  and  with  this  money  began  the  hotel  business. 
The  house  was  a  rattle  trap,  plastering  off,  and  a  reg 
ular  bed-bug  nest.  I  fumigated,  pasted  the  walls  over 
with  cloth  and  newspapers,  where  the  plastering  was 
off,  and  made  curtains  out  of  old  sheets.  My  pur 
chases  were  about  like  this  for  the  first  day :  Fifty 
cents  worth  of  meat,  coffee  ten  cents,  rice  ten  cents 
and  sugar  twenty-five,  potatoes  five,  etc.  The  trans 
ients  at  one  meal  would  give  me  something  to  spend 
for  the  next.  I  assisted  about  the  cooking  and  helped 
in  the  dining-room.  Mother  Gloyd  and  Lola  attended 
to  the  chamber  work,  and  little  Charlien  was  the  one 
who  did  the  buying  for  the  house.  I  would  often  wash 
out  my  tablecloths  at  night  myself  and  iron  them  in 
the  morning  before  breakfast.  I  would  take  board 
ers'  washing,  hire  a  woman  to  wash,  then  do  the  iron 
ing  myself.  Columbia  was  a  small  village  of  not  more 
than  five  hundred  people.  It  was  the  terminal  of  a 
railroad  called  the  Columbia  Tap.  Mr.  Painter,  the 
conductor,  began  boarding  with  us  right  off,  and  in 
three  or  four  days  he  brought  a  family  there  to  board 
by  the  name  of  Oastram,  father,  mother  and  two  boys, 
having  come  south  to  buy  a  plantation.  Mrs.  Oastram 
handed  me  a  ten  dollar  bill.  I  called  Lola  and  Char- 
lien  upstairs  and  showed  them  the  ten  dollar  bill.  We 
were  overjoyed ;  we  danced,  laughed,  and  cried.  Char- 
lien  said :  "Now  we  can  buy  a  whole  ham."  For  sev 
eral  months  my  little  children  and  I  ate  nothing  but 


74  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

broken  food.  I  can  never  put  on  paper  the  struggles 
of  this  life.  I  would  not  know  one  day  how  we  would 
-get  along  the  next. 

The  bitterest  sorrows  of  my  life  have  come  from 
not  having  the  love  of  a  husband.  I  must  here  say 
that  I  have  had,  at  times,  in  the  society  of  those  I  love, 
a  foretaste  of  what  this  could  be.  For  years  I  never 
saw  a  loving  husband  that  I  did  not  envy  the  wife ;  it 
was  a  cry  of  my  heart  for  love.  I  used  to  ask  God 
why  He  denied  me  this.  I  can  see  now  why  it  was.  I 
know  it  was  God's  will  for  me  to  marry  Mr.  Nation. 
Had  I  married  a  man  I  could  have  loved,  God  could 
never  have  used  me.  Phrenologists  who  have  ex 
amined  my  head  have  said:  "How  can  you,  who  are 
such  a  lover  of  home  be  without  one?"  The  very 
thing  that  I  was  denied  caused  me  to  have  a  desire  to 
secure  it  for  others.  Payne  who  wrote  "Home  Sweet 
Home"  never  had  one.  There  is  in  my  life  a  cause  of 
sadness  and  bitter  sorrow  that  God  only  knows.  I 
shall  not  write  it  here.  Oh !  how  the  heart  will  break 
almost  for  a  loving  word !  I  believe  the  great  want  of 
the  world  is  love.  Jesus  came  to  bring  love  to  earth. 

During  these  severe  afflictions  I  began  to  see  how 
little  there  was  in  life.  I  wondered  at  the  gaiety  of 
people.  It  seemed  as  if  a  pall  hung  over  the  earth.  I 
would  wonder  that  the  birds  sung,  or  the  sun  would 
shine.  I  might  say  that  for  years  this  was  my  exper 
ience.  I  would  go  to  God,  but  got  very  little  relief; 
yet  I  never  gave  up.  It  was  all  the  hope  I  could  see 
for  me.  About  this  time  my  little  Charlien,  who  had 
been  such  a  help  to  me,  began  to  go  into  a  decline,  until 
she  was  taken  down  with  typhoid  fever.  Her  case  was 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  75 

violent  and  she  was  delirious  from  the  first.  This  my 
only  child  was  peculiar.  She  was  the  result  of  a 
drunken  father  and  a  distracted  mother.  The  curse 
of  heredity  is  one  of  the  most  heart-breaking  results 
of  the  saloon.  Poor  little  children  are  brought  into 
the  world  with  the  curse  of  drink  and  disease  entailed 
upon  them.  How  can  mothers  be  true  to  their  off 
spring  with  a  constant  dread  of  the  nameless  horrors 
wives  are  exposed  to  by  being  drunkards'  wives.  Men 
will  not  raise  domestic  animals  under  conditions  where 
the  mothers  may  bring  forth  weak  or  deformed  off 
spring,  Frances  Willard  says,  "Right  generation  is 
the  greatest  problem  of  the  race/'  the  ignorance  of  the 
mothers  and  the  ignorance  and  vice  of  the  fathers  is 
given  to  the  children  before  they  are  born,  and  these 
feeble  and  deformed  minds  and  bodies  with  the  de 
praved  appetites  threatens  to  deteriorate  the  human 
family,  .and  we  will  be  a  race  of  idiots  and  insane  people 
if  something  isn't  done ;  as  Jesus  says,  "Unless  these 
days  be  shortened,  no  flesh  can  be  saved."  Matt.  24:22. 
I  heard  of  a  mother  who  was  wise  enough  to  under 
stand  pre-natal  influence.  She  said  she  was  going  to 
have  a  literary  family  and  when  she  expected  to  be  a 
mother  she  read  eagerly  all  the  good  literary  writings, 
she  had  what  she  prepared  for. 

If  girls  were  taught  that  a  drunkard's  curse  will  in 
the  nature  of  things  include  his  children  and  also  that 
if  either  parent  allowed  bad  thoughts  or  actions  to 
come  into  their  lives,  that  their  offspring  will  be  a  re 
production  of  their  own  sins,  they  would  avoid  these 
men,  and  men  will  give  up  their  vice  before  they  will 
give  up  women. 


76  THE   USE  AND   NEED   OF 

My  precious  child  seemed  to  have  taken  a  perfect 
dislike  to  Christianity.  This  was  a  great  grief  to  me, 
and  I  used  to  pray  to  God  to  save  her  soul  at  any  cost ; 
I  often  prayed  for  bodily  affliction  on  her,  if  that  was 
what  would  make  her  love  and  serve  God.  Anything 
for  her  eternal  salvation. 

Her  right  cheek  was  very  much  swollen,  and  on  ex 
amination  we  found  there  was  an  eating  sore  inside 
her  cheek.  This  kept  up  in  spite  of  all  remedies,  and 
at  last  the  whole  of  her  right  cheek  fell  out,  leaving  the 
teeth  bare.  My  friends  and  boarders  were  very  angry 
at  the  physician,  saying  she  wae  salivated.  From  the 
first  something  told  me  this  is  an  answer  to  your  pray 
er.  At  this  time,  when  her  life  was  dispaired  of,  I 
had  an  intense  longing  to  save  my  child,  who  was  so 
dear  to  me.  I  said :  "Oh,  God,  let  me  keep  a  piece  of 
my  child."  A  minister  said :  ''Don't  pray  for  the  life 
of  your  child ;  she  will  be  so  deformed  it  were  better 
she  were  dead."  I  could  not  feel  this  way.  After  be 
ing  at  death's  door  for  nine  days,  she  began  to  re 
cover.  The  wound  in  her  face  healed  up  to  a  hole 
about  the  size  of  a  twenty-five  cent  piece.  Her  jaws 
closed  and  remained  so  for  eight  years.  The  sickness 
of  my  daughter  and  the  keeping  up  of  the  hotel  was 
such  a  tax  on  my  mind,  that  for  months  transactions 
would  recede  from  my  memory.  For  instance,  if  any 
one  told  me  something,  in  an  hour  I  could  not  tell 
whether  it  had  been  hours,  days  or  months  since  it 
was  told  me.  I  have  never  entirely  recovered  from 
this,  still  being  forgetful  of  names,  dates  and  circum 
stances,  unless  they  are  particularly  impressed  upon 
my  mind.  When  I  could  afford  it,  I  took  my  child. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  77 

then  twelve  years  old,  down  to  Galveston,  put  her  un 
der  the  care  of  Dr.  Dowell  for  the  purpose  of  closing 
the  hole  in  her  cheek.  I  had  to  leave  the  little  one 
down  there  among  strangers,  for  I  could  not  afford 
to  stay  with  her.  A  mother  only  will  know  what  this 
means.  After  four  operations  the  place  was  closed  up 
in  her  cheek,  still  her  mouth  was  closed,  her  teeth  close 
together.  I  suffered  torture  all  these  years  for  fear 
she  might  strangle  to  death.  I  took  her  to  San  An 
tonio,  Texas,  to  Dr.  Herff,  and  he  and  his  two  sons 
removed  a  section  of  the  jawbone,  expecting  to  make 
an  artificial  joint,  enabling  her  to  use  the  other  side 
of  her  jaw.  After  all  this,  the  operation  was  a  failure, 
and  her  jaws  closed  up  again.  We,  in  the  meantime, 
moved  to  Richmond  from  Columbia.  We  became  very 
successful  in  the  hotel  business  and  I  saved  money 
enough  to  send  her  to  New  York  City,  where  her 
father,  Dr.  Gloyd,  had  a  cousin,  Dr.  Messinger,  who 
would  see  that  she  had  the  best  care  possible.  None 
of  the  surgeons  there  gave  her  any  hope  of  opening 
her  jaws.  She  went  to  Dr.  John  Weyth  to  have  him 
perform  an  operation  of  plastic  surgery;  that  is,  he 
cut  off  a  flap  from  under  her  chin,  turning  it  over  the 
scar  on  her  cheek. 

Although  Charlien  was  not  a  Christian,  she  had 
faith  in  God.  Once  she  complained  of  my  being  too 
strict  with  her,  but  said:  "Mamma  I  owe  it  to  you  that 
I  have  any  faith  in  God,  even  if  you  are  severe  with 
me."  She  always  believed  that  her  mother  had  a  God. 
Finding  no  physician  in  New  York  who  could  open  her 
jaws,  she  wrote  me  this:  "No  one  but  God  can  open 
mv  mouth,  Mamma ;  ask  him  to  do  it."  There  was  a 


,8  THE    USE   AND   IS'EED  OF 

Catholic  woman,  Miss  Doregan,  who  boarded  with  me, 
who  had  a  store  around  the  corner  from  the  hotel,  and 
1  could  think  of  no  one  else  who  had  as  much  faith  as 
this  woman.  She  said  she  believed  that  God  would 
heal  my  child  according  to  prayer,  so  I  went  for  seven 
mornings  before  breakfast  to  this  saint  of  God.  She 
taught  me  many  holy  truths  and  she  explained  the 
Scriptures  to  me.  I  learned  from  her  a  prayer  that  we 
said  in  concert,  that  was  written  by  one  of  the  Old 
Fathers,  and  is  one  of  the  most  complete  in  devotion 
I  have  ever  read.  I  will  record  it  here : 

"Come  Holy  Ghost  send  down  those  beams, 

That  sweetly  flow  in  silent  streams, 

From  thy  bright  throne  above ; 

Oh,  Come  Thou  Father  of  the  poor, 

Thou  bounteous  source  of  all  our  store; 

Come  fire  our  hearts  with  love. 

Come  thou  of  comforters  the  best, 

Come  thou  the  soul's  delicious  guest, 

The  pilgrim's  sweet  relief: 

Thou  art  our  rest  in  toil  and  sweat, 

Refreshment  in  excessive  heat 

And  solace  in  our  grief. 

Oh !  sacred  light  shoot  home  the  darts, 

Oh !  pierce  the  center  of  those  hearts 

Whose  faith  aspires  to  thee. 

Without  thy  God-head  nothing  can 

Have  any  worth  or  price  in  man, 

Nothing  can  harmless  be." 

"Lord  wash  our  sinful  stains  away, 

Water  from  heaven  our  barren  clay, 

Our  wounds  and  bruises  heal. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.    NATION.  79 

To  thy  sweet  yoke  our  stiff  necks  bow, 

Warm  Avith  thy  fire  our  hearts  of  snow, 

Our  wandering  feet  repair. 

Oh,  grant  thy  faithful  dearest  Lord, 

Whose  only  hope  is  thy  sure  word, 

The  seven  gifts  of  thy  spirit. 

Grant  us  in  life  to  obey  thy  grace, 

Grant  us  in  death  to  see  thy  face 

And  endless  joys  inherit, 

Through  the  same  Christ  our  Lord."    "Amen." 
And  now  I  often  use  this  beautiful  comprehensive 
petition  to  my  Dear  Lord. 

Charlien  wrote  that  she  had  letters  of  introduction 
to  a  physician  in  Philadelphia,  Dr.  J.  Ewing  Mears, 
but  in  every  letter  would  say:  "Keep  on  praying." 
This  we  did.  Oh,  the  anxiety  of  my  mother  heart! 
My  duties  as  landlady  kept  me  busy  all  day  and  part 
of  the.  night.  I  often  had  to  do  my  own  cooking. 

God  was  good  to  me  and  we  were  very  successful 
financially,  and  managed  to  meet  all  debts  and  pay 
ments  on  the  property  we  had  purchased. 

After  I  knew  the  operation  had  been  performed  in 
Philadelphia,  I  telegraphed  to  Charlien.  The  answer 
came  from  the  physician :  "All  right,"  but  rny  anxiety 
was  intensified.  I  became  almost  wild  with  anxiety, 
and  I  determined  to  go  to  her.  I  borrowed  four  hun 
dred  dollars,  and  in  three  hours  I  was  on  my  way  to 
my  precious  suffering  one.  As  soon  as  I  got  on  the 
train  a  sense  of  divine  guidance  came  to  me. 

When  I  arrived  at  the  hospital,  I  had  the  nurse  take 
me  to  my  child's  room.  I  cannot  describe  the  meet 
ing.  She  was  packing  up  her  clothes.  I  said:  "Why 


80  .    .    _  ^   AND    NEED  OF 

are  you  doing  this?"  Then  she  told  me  this  pitiful 
story :  "Mair.ma,  you  did  not  send  me  any  money,  and 
the  Doctor  and  nurse  seemed  dissatified,  so  I  took  most 
of  my  clothes  down  to  a  soup  house  and  pawned  them, 
that  the  woman  may  give  me  a  room  and  soup  until  I 
could  hear  from  you." 

This  was  horrible  to  think  of.  I  had  sent  her  money, 
but  like  some  others;  Charlien  never  knew  the  value  of 
money.  I  had  her  on  my  lap  and  we  were  crying  to 
gether.  Just  to  think,  in  ten  minutes  more  my  child 
might  have  been  gone,  and  I  might  not  have  found  her 
for  some  time.  Her  mouth  opened  half  an  inch,  and 
as  she  talked,  I  noticed  that  the  side  of  her  face  the 
jaw  bone  had  been  taken  from,  was  moving  as  she 
chewed  a  piece  of  gum.  I  placed  my  hands  on  each 
side  of  her  face  and  said :  "Now  chew.  Well,  this  is 
just  like  God;  he  has  not  only  opened  your  mouth,  but 
has  given  you  a  new  jaw  bone.  My  darling  you  know 
that  the  bone  from  this  side  was  taken  out."  "Yes," 
she  said,  "I  told  Dr.  Hears  that,  but  he  said  it  could 
not  be." 

I  I'told  him  I  saw  the  bone  and  teeth  that  were  taken 
out.  So  in  answer  to  prayer,  God  had  wrought  this 
miracle. 

I  stayed  there  six  weeks  with  her.  She  went  to  see 
the  doctor  three  times  a  week.  He  used  to  pry  open 
her  jaws,  which  was  very  painful  to  her  but  she 
gradually  grew  better.  We  were  so  happy  in  each 
other's  society.  I  took  her  every  place  to  see  sights 
in  that  grand,  philanthropic  city.  I  believe  Phila 
delphia, /'Brotherly  Love,"  has  more  evidence  of -the 
meaning  of  the  name  than  any  city  I  have  ever  seen. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  81 

The  "BreakfastAssociation"  for  redeemed  men  has  no 
equal  in  its  Christ-like  work.  When  I  left  New  York 
for  Kansas,  I  bought  two  tickets,  one  from  New  York 
to  Chicago  and  another  one  from  there  on.  When  I 
went  to  check  my  trunk  I  found  one  ticket  was  gone. 
I  had  only  about  three  or  four  dollars,  not  enough  to 
get  me  another  ticket.  This  was  at  Fulton  Ferry.  I 
turned  and  walked  out  going  toward  the  elevated  road, 
looking  as  I  went  for  my  ticket.  I  prayed  God  to  help 
me  find  it.  I  walked  about  the  streets  as  if  in  a  dream. 
Wishing  to  learn  where  I  was,  I  crossed  the  street  to 
ask  a  policeman.  Seeing  a  paper  at  his  feet  I  picked 
it  up  and  it  was  my  lost  ticket.  Joshua  made  the  sun 
stand  still  by  prayer.  Elijah  closed  the  heavens  from 
raining  on  the  earth  and  raised  the  dead.  It  is  not 
strange  that  God  should  answer  my  prayer  in  this  case. 
In  six  weeks  I  returned  home  leaving  Charlien,  who 
went  to  Vermont  to  visit  some  of  her  father's  relatives, 
the  Gloyds.  She  was  gone  six  months,  came  home  and 
married  and  continued  to  live  in  Richmond,  Texas. 
For  a  year  she  and  her  husband  lived  with  me ;  also 
Mr.  Nation's  daughter,  Lola,  was  married  and  living 
with  me,  and  mother  Gloyd,  now  eighty-six  years  old, 
was  there.  My  cares  now  were  so  heavy  many  times 
that  I  could  not  attend  religious  worship  as  I  wished. 
Sunday  morning  I  frequently  gathered  my  servants  in 
the  dining-room,  and  there  we  read  and  studied  the 
Bible.  I  had  great  heaviness  of  heart,  because  I  had 
no  time  to  meditate  and  study  the  scriptures,  i  saw 
I  was  only  living  to  feed  the  perishing  bodies  of  men 
and  women.  I  would  frequently  go  upstairs  and  pros 
trate  myself  on  the  floor,  crying  to  God  for  deliver- 


82  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

ance  from  my  present  surroundings,  telling  Him  over 
and  over,  "If  he  would  free  me  /  would  do  for  Him 
what  he  couldn't  get  anyone  else  to  do."  How  literal 
ly  this  has  been  fulfilled,  for  God  held  me  to  my  vow, 
and  what  Carry  A.  Nation  has  done  is  what  no  one 
else  has ;  not  only  in  the  instance  of  smashing  saloons, 
but  in  other  work.  My  life  beyond  dispute  has  been 
marvelous  and  no  one  that  will  stop  to  consider  but 
will  know  and  must  admit  that  an  unseen  power,  one 
super-human,  has  upheld  me,  "not  by  might,  nor  by 
power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord,"  Zech.  4 :6 : 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE    HOLY     GHOST. REJECTED     AS    A 

BIBLE   TEACHER   IN  *  METHODIST     AND     EPISCOPALIAN 

CHURCHES. TAUGHT     IN       HOTEL       DINING-ROOM. 

VISION,     WARNING     AND      BLESSING. ENTERTAINING 

ANGELS. THE    JEWS. PRAYER    FOR     RAIN    AND     AN 
SWER. GOD'S    JUDGMENT    ON    THE    WICKED. MOVED 

TO  KANSAS. DEATH  OF  MOTHER  GLOYD. SERMON  OF 

A  CATHOLIC  PRIEST. 

In  this  chapter  I  will  tell  of  God's  leading.  I  say  of 
my  life,  "This  is  the  Lord's  doings  and  marvelous  in 
our  eyes."  Ps.  118:23.  A  Methodist  conference  was 
held  in  Richmond,  Texas,  about  the  year  1884.  I  at 
tended.  The  minister  read  the  thirty-fifth  chapter  of 
Isaiah.  From  the  time  he  began  reading  I  was  mar- 
velously  affected.  Paul  said  it  was  not  "lawful"  or 
possible  to  utter  some  things.  2  Cor.  12  :4.  There  was 
a  halo  around  the  minister.  I  was  wrapt  in  ecstacy. 
My  first  impression  was  that  an  angel  was  talking  and 
that  the  house  was  ascending  to  heaven.  I  felt  my 
natural  heart  expanding  to  an  enormous  size.  I  look 
ed  to  see  what  impression  was  made  on  the  people  in 
the  audience.  I  saw  one  man  nodding.  I  was  sur 
prised,  for  no  one  seemed  at  all  astonished  or  delight 
ed. 

At  the  close  of  the  meeting  I  tried  to  find  out  the 
meaning.  No  one  felt  as  I  did.  I  went  to  a  saintly 
woman,  Mrs.  Ruth  Todd,  and  asked  her  about  the  ser 
mon.  She  had  felt  nothing  remarkable.  I  had  never 


84  THE   USE   AND    NEED'OF 

been  taught  that  anyone  but  the  Apostles  in  Jesus' 
time  got  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  I  would  have 
understood  this  wonderful  state.  I  then  and  there 
openly  consecrated  myself  to  God,  telling  my  friends 
that  "from  henceforth  all  my  time,  means  and  efforts 
should  be  given  to  God."  (Mr.  Nation  in  his  petition 
for  divorce  said  that  up  to  this  year  I  had  been  a  good 
wife.)  I  was  often  considered  crazy,  on  the  subject 
of  religion.  When  I  spoke  to  people  I  would  ask 
them,  "If  they  loved  God;"  I  could  not  refrain  from 
this;  the  servant  in  the  kitchen,  the  guest,  the^ mer 
chant,  the  market  man;  I  felt  impelled  by  divine  love 
for  the  souls  of  men. 

God  had  given  me  an  intense  love  for  souls,  and  one 
was  as  precious  as  another  to  me.  I  now  see  what  the 
enlarging  of  my  heart  meant.  I  now  know  that  God 
was  putting  the  whole  world  in  my  heart.  Once  an 
old  colored  man  brought  into  the  kitchen  some  eggs  to 
sell.  I  said :  "Uncle,  do  you  love  God  ?"  He  turned 
to  my  cook  Fannie  and  said :  "Hear  dat."  Fannie  said: 
"Oh !  Mrs.  Nation  knows  the  Lord."  Uncle  said : 
"Thank  God  one  white  woman  got  ligen,"  clapped  his 
hands  and  praised  God.  It  used  to  be  and  is  now  the 
sweetest  music  to  have  anyone  praise  God.  I  am  at 
church  often,  when  I  long  to  hear  a  loud  shout  of 
praise  go  up  to  the  giver  of  every  good  and  perfect 
gift.  (Jas.  1:17.)  It  is  torture  to  attend  the  cold, 
dead  service  of  most  of  the  churches. 

I  was  a  teacher  in  the  Methodist  Sunday  school  and 
had  given  perfect  satisfaction  up  to  this  time;  but 
things  changed.  The  minister  said  from  the  pulpit 
that  the  teachers  should  be  Methodists,  and  spoke  so 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  85 

pointedly  that  all  knew  he  meant  me.  The  superin 
tendent  at  the  Episcopal  Sunday  school  asked  me  to 
teach  in  their  Sunday  school.  I  did  so,  and  things 
went  smoothly  for  a  while. 

Father  Denroach  was  the  minister,  and  one  morning- 
he  asked  the  school  questions  out  of  the  catechism. 
My  class  could  not  answer.  I  arose  and  said :  "Father 
Denroach,  I  do  not  teach  my  class  the  catechism,  I  use 
only  God's  word."  "What  objection  do  you  find  to 
the  catechism  ?"  he  asked.  I  replied :  "I  cannot  teach 
the  Bible  and  catechism,  for  one  contradicts  the  other. 
The  gospel  is  to  be  believed  and  obeyed  and  a  Chris 
tian  is  a  follower  of  Christ.  The  catechism  in  the  first 
lesson  asks  this  question :  'What  is  your  name  ?  Bob, 
Tom  or  John.'  'When  did  you  get  that  name?'  'In 
my  baptism,  when  I  was  made  a  Christian.'  Baptism 
never  did  make  a  Christian.  Infants  cannot  be  made 
Christians,  they  cannot  follow  Christ,  cannot  believe 
or  obey  the  Gospel.  Jesus  said :  'Of  such  is  the  King 
dom  of  Heaven.'  Now  if  I  teach  my  class  that  the 
state  of  being  a  Christian  is  something  they  get  with 
out  the  exercise  of  their  will,  I  contradict  what  I  have 
been  teaching."  The  dear  old  man  walked  up  and 
down  the  aisle  shaking  his  robes.  I  said:  "A  house 
divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.  You  must  have 
an  Episcopalian  teacher  to  teach  your  doctrine."  So 
I  was  shut  out  from  teaching  in  the  only  twro  churches 
in  Richmond. 

I  could  not  be  satisfied.  I  tried  to  get  the  Methodist 
church  for  a  Mission  school  in  the  afternoon,  but 
failed.  I  got  plank  for  seats  and  after  dinner  on 
Lord's  Dav  I  had  mv  hotel  dining-room  seated  and 


86  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

gathered  all  the  little  ones  I  could.  These  were  largely 
children  who  went  to  no  Sunday  school.  I  got  five 
Catholic  children  to  attend.  We  had  an  attendance  of 
from  thirty  to  forty.  We  bought  an  organ,  had  our 
charts  and  maps.  One  poor  saloon  keeper  named 
Frost  came  several  times  and  always  gave  a  dollar. 
He  was  killed  in  the  fight  between  the  Jaybirds  and 
Peckerwoods  in  Richmond.  This  work  was  a  blessing 
to  my  soul  and  I  have  seen  happy  results  from  that 
little  school.  I  kept  this  up  until  I  left  there  for  Kan 
sas.  The  last  Sunday  we  all  went  to  the  graveyard  to 
study  our  lesson.  I  wished  by  this  to  impress  the  little 
ones  with  the  purpose  of  the  Gospel. 

I  have  had  visions  and  dreams  that  I  know  were 
sent  to  me  by  my  Heavenly  Father  to  warn  or  comfort 
or  instruct  me.  I  notice  my  dreams,  not  all,  but  I  can 
tell  the  significant  ones,  usually  by  the  impression  they 
make  on  me.  The  dream  that  comes  to  me  just  before 
waking  up  generally  means  something  to  me.  To 
dream  of  snakes  has  always  been  a  bad  omen  to  me. 
When  I  first  started  out  smashing,  while  in  Wichita 
jail,  I  dreamed  of  two  enormous  snakes,  one  on  one 
side  of  a  road,  the  other  on  the  other ;  one  raised  to 
strike  me,  the  other  made  no  move.  I  was  impressed 
that  the  one  that  was  the  most  venomous  and  in  the 
attitude  of  striking  me  with  its  fangs  was  the  Republi 
can  party,  and  this  has  been  my  deadly  foe. 

VISION,   WARNING  AND  BLESSING. 

I  will  here  relate  a  vision  I  had :  One  cold  night  in 
March,  1889,  I  heard  a  groan  across  the  hall.  It  was 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning.  I  found  the  suffer- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  87 

er  to  be  an  old  gentleman  who  was  having  very  severe 
cramps,  so  I  went  down  to  the  kitchen  to  make  a  mus 
tard  plaster.  The  hotel  was  a  frame  building,  having 
twenty-one  rooms,  and  about  five  or  six  cottages 
around  the  main  building.  We  carried  no  insurance, 
and  so  many  would  say  we  had  a  "fire-trap"  there. 
We  had  a  mortgage  on  the  place,  and  I  was  kept  in 
terror  constantly  for  fear  of  fire,  and  would  often 
spring  out  of  bed  at  night  in  my  sleep,  expecting  to 
see  a  fire. 

I  lit  a  candle,  went  down  stairs  through  several  dark 
halls.  Then  I  went  upstairs  again  and  gave  the  old 
man  the  plaster ;  afterwards  returning  to  the  kitchen, 
thinking  probably  that  I  had  left  the  candle  burning. 
Things  were  all  dark,  but  when  I  started  up  the  stairs, 
there  seemed  to  be  a  light  shining  behind  me,  which 
would  come  and  go  in  flashes,  as  I  ascended.  I  looked 
everywhere  to  see  where  it  came  from,  but  discovered 
it  to  be  an  unnatural  manifestation.  It  followed  me 
until  I  got  to  my  room  door.  It  did  not  alarm  me.  I 
felt  the  sweet,  peaceful  presence  of  God.  I  prayed  to 
him  and  I  could  think  of  no  reason  for  having  this 
blessing  from  God,  except  that  I  had  gotten  up  in  the 
cold  to  relieve  this  suffering  man.  I  stood  by  my  bed 
for  a  short  time  praying  to  God,  and  thanking  him  for 
his  goodness  to  me.  I  thought  Mr.  Nation  was  asleep, 
but  he  afterwards  told  me  that  he  heard  me  whisper 
ing.  I  slept  until  late,  and  when  I  did  go  down  to 
breakfast,  Mr.  Nation  and  Alex,  my  son-in-law,  were 
at  the  table.  I  told  them  I  had  a  warning  last  night, 
and  if  I  had  a  Daniel  or  Joseph  they  could  interpret 
a  vision  I  had.  I  told  them  of  the  peculiar  light,  but 


88  THE   USE  AND   NEED   OF 

they  paid  very  little  attention  to  it ;  being  very  busy  I 
thought  no  more  of  it  that  day. 

Just  about  three  o'clock  the  next  morning,  I  was 
awakened  by  the  cry  of  fire.  Charlien  screamed  from 
the  next  room :  "Mamma,  the  town  is  on  fire."  I  ran 
out  and  the  whole  heavens  seemed  to  be  on  fire.  It  had 
originated  in  a  drugstore  and  was  sweeping  towards 
the  hotel.  I  immediately  ran  upstairs  and  began  to 
pray.  I  told  God  "There  wasn't  a  dishonest  dollar  so 
far  as  I  knew  in  the  house,  and  that  He  told  me  to  call 
on  Him  in  a  day  of  trouble,  (Ps.  50:15)  and  said, 
"this  is  my  day  of  trouble,  and  begged  He  would  hear 
me.  Many  of  the  guests  passed  by,  some  of  them  with 
baggage  in  their  hands  and  some  still  dressing. 
I  prayed  until  I  seemed  to  get  an  answer  of  security. 
One  lady,  Mrs.  Moore,  the  wife  of  a  physician,  who 
had  boarded  with  me  a  long  time,  had  a  very  elegant 
set  of  furniture,  and  she  called  to  me  several  times  to 
take  my  things  out  of  the  hotel.  She  had  two  colored 
men  moving  her  furniture,  I  heard  her  say  to  several 
persons:  "That  woman  has  lost  her  mind."  All  the 
boarders  had  their  trunks  out  and  every  one  was  saying 
to  me:  "Why  don't  you  try  to  save  your  furniture?" 
I  would  take  hold  of  some  things  to  take  out,  but  it 
seemed  something  would  intimate,  "Let  it  be."  I 
walked  down  the  street  and  Mr.  Blakely,  one  of  the 
men  who  was  killed  in  the  Jaybird  and  Peckerwood 
battle  in  Richmond  said:  "Are  you  insured?" 

I  said:  "Yes,  up  there,"  pointing  to  Heaven. 

All  fear  was  gone,  and  now  in  the  time  of  almost 
certain  danger  I  was  confident  of  deliverance,  when 
before  I  had  been  nervous,  in  time  when  all  was  secure, 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  89 

At  last  the  cry  came  in :  ''You  are  saved."  I  went  in 
the  hotel  office,  sat  down  by  the  stove  and  Alex,  my 
son-in-law,  was  by  me.  I  said  to  him :  "Oh,  Alex,  my 
vision !"  He  looked  almost  paralyzed,  for  I  had  told 
him  it  was  a  warning  and  all  the  circumstances.  From 
that  day  to  this  I  have  never  had  any  fear  of  fire. 

ENTERTAINING  ANGELS  UNAWARES. 

One  noon  I  was  busy  with  the  guests  and  waiting 
on  the  tables,  and  going  to  the  kitchen  I  saw  sitting 
on  the  wood-box  a  poor  dejected  looking  creature,  a 
man  about  twenty-four  years  of  age.  He  asked  me  if 
I  had  any  tinware  to  mend.  I  told  him,  "No,  but  you 
can  have  your  dinner." 

He  said :  "I  don't  want  any."  He  looked  the  picture 
of  despair. 

I  said :  "Don't  go  until  I  can  speak  to  you." 

When  I  had  time  I  told  him  I  wanted  some  one  to 
wash  dishes.  He  consented  to  stay,  and  I  felt  at  that 
time  I  must  care  for  that  poor  creature  or  he  would 
die.  He  stayed  with  us  three  years  and  proved  to  be 
a  jewel.  All  the  rest  of  my  help  was  colored,  and  gen 
erally  speaking,  white  and  colored  help  do  not  assim 
ilate,  but  they  all  had  profound  respect  for  Smith.  He 
soon  owned  his  horse  and  did  the  draying  for  the  hotel. 
Then  he  got  to  be  a  clerk,  and  bought  pecans  for  the 
northern  market.  All  his  family  had  died  from  con 
sumption,  and  he  was  traveling  for  his  health.  He 
left  us  for  Pierce's  Sanitarium,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and 
stayed  there  some  time  for  treatment.  He  ran  a  little 
booth  by  the  Niagara  Bridge,  and  soon  accumulated 


90  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

quite  a  little  sum.  He  became  a  Christian  and  mar 
ried.  I  often  got  letters  from  him  expressing  so  much 
gratitude.  He  was  an  infidel  when  he  first  came,  and 
he  said  it  was  my  influence  that  made  him  a  Christian. 

I  often  had  the  Orthodox  Jews  to  stop  with  me. 
They  ate  nothing  that  contained  lard ;  their  food  was 
mackerel,  eggs,  bread  and  coffee.  The  rates  were  two 
dollars  a  day,  but  I  charged  them  only  one  dollar,  and 
allowed  them  to  pay  their  bills  with  something  that 
was  in  their  "pack."  My  other  guests  would  often  re 
gard  them  with  almost  scorn,  but  when  they  were  at 
their  meals  I  would  wait  on  them  myself,  showing 
them  this  preference,  for  I  could  not  but  respect  their 
sacrifice  for  the  sake  of  their  religion.  I  have  always 
treated  the  Jews  with  great  respect.  Our  Savior  was 
a  Jew  and  said:  "Salvation  is  of  the  Jews."  (John 
4:22.)  They  are  a  monument  to  the  truth  of  the 
Scriptures,  a  people  without  a  country ;  and  though 
they  are  wanderers  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  they 
retain  their  characteristics  more  than  any  other  peo 
ple  have  ever  done.  If  an  Italian,  German  or  French 
man  comes  to  America,  in  a  hundred  years  he  becomes 
thoroughly  an  American,  losing  the  peculiarities  of  his 
descent.  But  wherever  a  Jew  goes  no  matter  how  long 
he  stays  he  remains  a  Jew.  This  can  be  said  of  no 
other  people  on  earth. 

I  know  by  experience  that  the  Jews  are  tricksters, 
but  they  have  almost  been  forced  into  their  cupidity  in 
getting  money,  yet  the  greatest  promise  of  deliverance 
in  the  Bible  is  for  that  nation.  The  foundation  stones 
of  heaven  and  the  pearly  gates  are  named  for  the 
twelve  tribes.  No  Christian  should  scorn  a  Jew. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  91 

One  of  the  most  pitiful  and  disgusting  things  that 
I  meet  is  a  Jew,  who  has  renounced  his  religion.  The 
reason  why  we  Christians  know  so  much  of  God  is 
because  He  showed  so  much  of  His  power,  love  and 
mercy  to  the  Jews. 

One  day  I  was  driving  down  the  street  of  Rich 
mond  in  a  buggy,  and  Mr.  Blakely,  the  merchant  I 
dealt  so  much  with,  and  also  a  member  of  the  Meth 
odist  church,  stopped  me,  saying,  that  he  had  some 
thing  to  say  to  me : 

"Your  friends  are  becoming  very  uneasy  about  the 
state  of  your  mind.  You  are  thinking  too  much  on  re 
ligious  subjects,  and  they  asked  me  to  warn  you." 

This  gave  me  a  blessed  assurance,  and  I  laughed 
very  heartily  saying:  "I. have  the  religion  of  the  Bible 
or  a  Bible  religion  and  the  world  cannot  understand 
it."  (I.  Cor.  2:14.) 

I  was  naturally  ambitious  and  was  very  fond  of  nice 
furniture,  china  and  dainty  things,  but  I  have  lost  all 
taste  for  these,  and  stopped  making  fashionable  calls, 
for  I  have  seen  the  vanity  and  wickedness  in  fashion 
able  society  and  costly  dressing.  I  educated  myself  to 
look  at  things  as  I  thought  God  would,  and  this  change 
came  about  after  that  transaction  between  my  soul  and 
God,  at  the  Methodist  church,  which  I  know  was  the 
"Baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;"  but  did  not  know  then 
what  it  was.  I  had  been  born  in  the  Christian  church, 
and  was  taught  that  only  the  Apostles  had  received 
that  gift.  I  never  knew  what  to  call  this  experience 
until  three  years  after  when  I  went  to  Kansas,  and  had 
it  explained  to  me  by  the  Free  Methodists,  and  where 
God  gave  me  a  witness  that  it  was  true. 


92  THE   USE   AND    NEED  OF 

We  had  quite  a  drought  in  Texas,  everything  was 
parched  and  burning  up,  and  great  concern  was  felt 
by  all.  Charlien  said  to  me  one  day:  "Mamma  why 
don't  you  pray  for  rain?" 

I  was  so  struck  with  the  idea  that  I  went  to  the 
church  that  night  and  proposed  that  we  pray  for  rain. 
So  four  ladies  were  elected  to  appoint  a  special  meet 
ing.  The  minister's  wife,  Mrs.  Todd,  Mrs.  Blakely 
and  myself  were  the  four.  We  met  and  we  said  the 
first  thing  is  to  agree.  The  minister's  wife  began  to 
cry  and  said : 

"I  have  read  of  so  many  thunderbolts  lately,  that  I 
am  almost  afraid  to  pray ;"  and  Mrs.  Blakely  repeated 
the  same,  but  I  told  the  women  this  was  doubting  God 
in  the  beginning. 

'  'If  you  ask  for  bread,  will  He  give  you  a  stone/ 
(Matt.  7:9.)  I  am  willing  to  trust  God  who  said: 
'Ask  and  ye  shall  receive,"  (John  16:24,)  and  let  Him 
send  the  rain  any  way  He  pleases."  This  was  finally 
agreed  upon,  and  the  next  afternoon  the  citizens  of 
the  town  were  called  to  the  church  to  pray  for  rain. 

After  the  meeting,  we  were  standing  on  the  plat 
form  in  front  of  the  church,  and  a  sprinkle  of  rain  out 
of  a  cloudless  sky  fell  on  the  platform,  and  on  the 
shutters  of  the  house.  This  was  nothing  but  a  mir 
acle,  and  was  very,  astonishing  to  us  all.  The  next  day 
the  clouds  began  to  gather  in  the  sky,  and  the  moisture 
began,  at  first,  to  fall  like  heavy  dew.  There  was  no 
lightning  or  thunder  and  the  rain  came  down  in  the 
gentlest  manner  and  continued  in  this  way  three  days. 
With  this  marvelous  manifestation  in  direct  answer  to 
prayer,  many  people  said:  "We  would  have  had  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  93 

rain  any  way."  "The  ox  knoweth  his  owner,  and  the 
ass  his  master's  crib,  but  Israel  doth  not  know,  my  peo 
ple  doth  not  consider."  (Isa.  1:3.) 

I  began  to  think  what  I  should  do  to  fulfill  my  vow 
to  God,  for  I  vowed  to  return  to  Him  something  for 
rain,  to  show  my  gratitude  for  what  I  had  seen  done. 
There  was  an  old  man,  about  seventy  years  old,  entire 
ly  destitute,  whose  name  was  Bestwick.  I  went  to  see 
him,  asked  him  to  come  to  the  hotel  and  make  his 
home  there.  There  was  also  a  poor  German  girl, 
named  Fredricka.  I  also  gave  her  board  at  the  hotel. 
These  two  stayed  with  me  free  of  charge  as  long  as 
I  lived  in  Richmond. 

[JThere  were  two  political  factions  in  Richmond  at 
this  time,  one  called  the  "Jaybirds"  and  the  other 
"Peckerwoods."  The  latter  were  people  that  were  in 
favor  of  the  negro  holding  orifices.  This  party  had  con 
trol  of-  the  country  for  some  time.  The  head  of  this 
party  was  Garvey,  the  sheriff.  The  head  of  the  former 
was  Henry  Frost,  a  saloon-keeper,  and  to  this  belonged 
nearly  all  the  young  men  of  Richmond. 

Mr.  Nation  was  correspondent  for  the  Houston  Post 
and  he  wrote  a  letter  speaking  of  the  bad  influence 
and  conduct  of  these  young  men  the  night  before; 
screaming  about  the  streets  and  disturbing  the  peace 
generally.  He  went  down  to  meet  the  trains  about 
twelve  o'clock  at  night.  The  next  night  after  the 
article  appeared  in  the  Post,  he  came  in  and  woke  me 

T  u^,,«  K^n  beaten  almost 


j 


94  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

to  tell  me  the  trouble,  only  the  boys  had  beaten  him.  I 
knelt  down  by  the  window  to  pray  to  God.  I  began 
by  calling  on  God  to  send  a  punishment  on  people  that 
would  do  such  a  mean,  cowardly  act.  I  prayed  until 
I  received  perfect  deliverance  from  that  kind  of  a 
spirit,  and  when  I  got  up  from  off  my  knees,  it  was 
four  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

In  this  crowd  was  a  family  of  Gibson  boys,  whose 
father  was  an  infidel,  and  encouraged  his  sons  in  this 
matter  and  in  all  their  bad  ways.  There  were  also 
other  boys,  Peason,  Little,  Winston ;  twenty-one  in  all. 
A  man  by  the  name  of  Henry  George  asked  Mr.  Na 
tion  to  come  and  sit  on  a  bale  of  cotton  on  the  depot 
platform,  and  talk  with  him  ;  another  one  of  these  boys 
j  ^.u^^ir  ivfr  ]sjation  backwards  on  the  plat- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  95 

difference.  The  Galveston  storm  greatly  damaged 
many  of  the  houses,  and  the  ruins  were  still  there.  A 
pall  of  death  seemed  to  be  over  the  whole  place,  and 
one  coming  into  the  town  would  feel  a  desire  to  leave 
it  as  quickly  as  possible,  if  there  was  not  some  interest 
independent  of  the  town.  God  said:  'They  shall  eat 
the  fruit  of  their  doing."  (Isa.  3:10.)  Still  in  Rich 
mond  God  has  those  who  have  not  bowed  their  knees 
to  Baal.  (I.  Kings  19:18.) 

Mr.  Nation's  life  was  threatened  and  we  had  to 
leave.  He  went  to  Kansas  where  he  had  a  brother. 
After  an  application  he  took  charge  of  a  Christian 
church  at  Medicine  Lodge,  Barber  County,  Kansas. 
This  is  January,  1904,  and  we  moved  to  Kansas  about 
fourteen  years  ago. 

We  traded  the  hotel  for  property  in  Medicine  Lodge. 
Charlien,  Lola  and  their  husbands  moved  to  themselves 
and  mother  Gloyd  would  consent  to  stay  away  from 
me  only  until  we  could  get  settled  in  Kansas.  She  had 
her  trunk  prepared  for  the  journey.  She  was  now 
eighty-six  years  old,  but  had  remarkable  vitality.  I 
said: 

"Mother  you  had  better  stay  here  the  rest  of  your 
life,  for  Kansas  is  much  colder  than  this  climate." 

But  she  replied:  "I  came  from  Vermont  and  it  is 
very  cold  there." 

She  followed  me  to  the  train,  and  when  I  went  to 
leave  her  she  placed  her  arms  around  me  and  her  head 
on  my  breast.  Her  last  words  were :  "I  have  lived  with 
you  and  I  want  to  die  with  you."  Oh,  how  I  disliked 
to  leave  her !  This  was  the  last  time  I  saw  her  dear, 


96  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

sweet  face.  We  had  lived  together  as  constant  com 
panions  for  twenty-three  years. 

Before  I  left  Richmond,  I  requested  of  two  of  my 
dear  friends,  Mrs.  Connor  and  Mrs.  Todd,  that  if 
mother  ever  got  sick,  they  would  stay  by  her  until  the 
last.  In  a  year  from  this  time  she  died,  being  sick  only 
three  days.  These  dear  friends  -stayed  by  her  side 
until  the  last.  A  telegram  was  sent  to  me  when  she 
was  first  taken  sick,  and  I  wanted  to  go,  but  I  had  no 
money  of  my  own,  and  Mr.  Nation  would  not  consent. 
I  have  never  ceased  to  be  sorry  for  it. 

I  was  very  much  pleased  when  I  first  went  to  Kan 
sas,  for  it  was  a  great  relief  from  burdens.  We  board 
ed  six  months.  After  the  year  was  up,  Mr.  Nation 
went  to  Holton,  Kansas,  and  took  charge  of  a  church 
there.  He  went  before  I  did,  and  to  save  shipping  our 
horse  and  buggy,  I  drove  through.  In  order  to  get  a 
good  start  and  directions  for  my  journey,  I  went  to 
Bro.  Ed.  Crouce,  who  lived  on  a  farm  about  five  miles 
from  town.  Our  horse  was  not  very  safe  for  he  had 
a  way  of  balking.  Bro.  Crouce  told  me  to  give  him 
a  severe  cut  across  the  back  and  give  him  the  reins  if 
he  attempted  to  balk.  I  tried  this  on  two  occasions, 
following  his  directions.  The  horse  reared  up  and 
acted  in  a  way  that  terrified  me,  but  I  conquered  and 
for  ten  years  I  drove  that  horse.  He  was  a  noble  beast 
with  almost  human  sense.  This  journey  was  four  hun 
dred  miles.  For  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  I  was  ac 
companied  by  a  young  girl  of  sixteen  years  of  age,  who 
was  a  farmer's  daughter,  and  seemed  to  be  afraid  of 
nothing.  She  was  a  great  inspiration  to  me,  preparing 
me  to  drive  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  alone.  The 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  97 

great  difficulty  was  in  finding  places  to  stop  at  night. 
I  got  so  I  did  not  look  for  large  roomy  houses  for  en 
tertainment,  but  the  smaller  ones.  I  found  out  that 
the  friends  of  the  poor  are  the  poor.  Mr.  Nation  met 
me  at  Topeka  and  he  was  so  pleased  that  he  said :  "You 
shall  have  this  horse  and  buggy  for  your  own." 

Holton  was  thirty  miles  north  and  we  drove  up  to 
gether. 

I  began  to  have  a  contempt  for  popular  preaching, 
keeping  apart  from  "cliques"  and  "sets."  I  knew  that 
my  husband  ought  not  to  be  in  the  ministry.  I  do  not 
believe  he  was  ever  a  converted  man.  This  made  me 
very  miserable,  putting  us  in  a  false  light  before  the 
people.  It  was  my  desire  to  serve  God  in  a  simple, 
humble  way.  Before  the  year  was  out  because  of 
some  dissatisfaction  in  the  church  between  Mr.  Na 
tion  and  the  board,  we  left  Holton.  I  then  drove  back 
to  Medicine  Lodge  alone,  enjoying  my  trip  very  much. 
Mr.  Nation  •«,  /er  took  charge  of  a  church  again.  He 
was  a  man  well  versed  in  law,  and  at  one  time  rendered 
valuable  service  in  prosecuting  liquor  cases  in  Medi 
cine  Lodge. 

When  I  lived  in  Texas  and  was  keeping  hotel  in 
Richmond,  one  cold  rainy  morning,  a  lot  of  men  came 
in  from  the  train. 

I  took  special  notice  of  one  man.  His  hands  were 
that  of  a  woman,  his  face  was  very  refined,  but  his 
clothes  were  shabby.  He  was  sjtting  by  himself  and 
I  said  to  him :  "You  must  excuse  me  but  you  look  so 
much  like  a  Catholic  priest  I  once  saw."  I  did  not  then 
dream  he  was  one.  Next  morning  I  sent  one  of  the 
bovs  that  waited  on  the  table  to  see  what  was  the  mat- 


98  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

ter  that  he  did  not  come  down  to  breakfast.  He  was 
sick.  I  went  up  to  see  him  and  he  told  me  he  often  had 
attacks  of  heart  trouble ;  that  he  had  fallen  in  a  faint 
in  the  yard  the  night  before.  I  asked  him  if  he  had 
any  friends.  He  said :  "No."  I  asked  him  his  busi 
ness?  "You  guessed  it  last  night,"  he  replied.  Then 
he  told  me  he  was  a  Catholic  priest.  I  was  very  much 
astonished  for  he  had  on  a  common  suit  with  a  red 
necktie.  I  then  knew  he  was  in  trouble  somewhere. 
He  told  me  he  had  no  money.  I  told  him  he  was  wel 
come  to  stay  as  long  as  he  wished.  I  gathered  up  some 
clean  garments  and  did  for  him  all  I  could.  I  felt  glad 
to  have  this  Catholic 'priest  in  my  house.  I  resolved 
to  ask  him  concerning  their  faith.  He  was  one  of  the 
saddest  men  I  ever  saw  and  it  made  my  heart  ache  to 
see  him.  I  knew  so  well  what  it  was  to  have  "a  heart 
bowed  down  with. grief  and  woe,"  and  I  saw  in  this 
poor  creature  desolation.  I  asked  him  if  he  should 
die,  what  sin  he  would  have  to  repent  of.  He  said: 
"I  may  have  sinned  in  trying  to  fix  up  a  home  for  poor 
priests  who  come  into  disfavor  with  the  bishops."  His 
words  were :  "There  is  no  one  so  helpless  as  a  Catholic 
priest  sent  adrift.  A  boy  ten  years  old  knows  as  well 
how  to  make  a  living  for  himself.  I  have  been  from 
a  boy,  in  a  Jesuit  College,  St.  John's,  near  New  York. 
You  do  not  know  the  sorrows  of  a  Catholic  priest.  Few 
know  that  so  many  priests  are  dying  from  heart  di 
sease.  I  am  trying  to  get  to  San  Antonio,  for  a  priest 
there  may  help  me  some."  He  stayed  at  the  hotel  five 
days.  One  evening  he  came  into  the  parlor  where  there 
was  quite  a  company,  and  I  was  astonished  to  see  him 
so  changed.  He  was  no  longer  the  shrinking,  crest- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  99 

fallen  man,  but  he  seemed  bright  and  joined  in  con 
versation  ;  sang  and  played  on  the  piano.  I  soon  found 
out  he  had  been  drinking.  I  wanted  to  shield  him  from 
the  scandal  and  made  an  excuse  to  call  him  from  the 
room,  and  told  him  what  I  did  this  for.  Next  morn 
ing  he  came  down  as  "sad  as  night."  I  said:  "Are 
you  going  to  leave?"  "Yes,"  he  replied.  I  wrote  a 
note  to  the  conductor,  whom  I  knew  well ;  told  him  the 
condition  of  this  poor  man ;  told  him  to  pass  him  to 
San  Antonio.  I  had  just  three  dollars,  this  I  gave  to 
him.  Oh,  the  gratitude  in  the  face  of  this  poor  man. 
He  raised  his  hands  and  asked  "Christ,  and  his  mother, 
the  holy  martyrs,  and  the  angels  to  bless  me." 

In  a  few  days  I  heard  of  a  priest  from  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  who  through  gambling  and  drinking,  had  spent 
thirty  thousand  dollars  of  the  church's  money  and  he 
was  sent  adrift.  The  name  of  this  priest  was  John 
Kelley  and  on  our  hotel  register  the  name  of  this  priest 
was  written  "John  Kelly." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WHY  THE   MINISTER  AND  ELDERS   WITHDREW   FROM    ME 

IN  MEDICINE  LODGE  AND  LEFT  ME  IN  THE  CHURCH. 

CLOSING  THE  DIVES  OF   MEDICINE  LODGE. CORA  BEN 
NETT    AND    WHY    SHE    KILLED     BILLY     MORRIS. HER 

RESURRECTION. RAIDING   A   JOINT  DRUG-STORE. 

I  soon  saw  that  I  was  not  popular  with  the  church 
at  Medicine  Lodge.  I  testified  to  having  received  the 
"baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  the  minister,  Mr. 
Nicholson,  took  occasion  to  say  that  I  was  not  sound 
in  the  faith.  This  church  at  this  time  had  a  board  of 
deacons  and  elders,  who  I  knew  to  be  unworthy,  some 
of  them  addicted  to  intoxicating  drinks  and  other  flag 
rant  sins.  There  was  one  man  whose  sincerity  I  never 
questioned,  Mr.  Smith,  who  had  a  good  report  from 
those  in  and  out  of  the  church. 

Mr.  Nicholson,  the  preacher,  used  to  go  to  a  drug 
store  kept  by  a  noted  jointist  and  infidel.  He  would 
sit  with  him  in  front  of  his  drug-store.  I  would  re 
buke  him  for  "sitting  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful  and 
standing  in  the  way  of  sinners."  (Ps.  1:2.) 

Whenever  I  went  visiting,  I  went  where  I  felt  I 
could  do  some  good  for  Jesus,  and  at  Thanksgiving 
and  Christmas  I  invited  the  poor,  crippled  and  blind, 
to  a  feast  at  my  house  as  Jesus  said  to  never  invite 
those  who  were  able  to  make  a  feast.  (Luke  14:13.) 

There  was  a  Mrs.  Tucker,  who  was  quite  young  and 
married  to  an  old  man.  She  worked  hard,  washing, 
to  care  for  her  five  children.  I  would  take  her  to 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  101 

church,  and  it  was  not  long  before  she  joined.  There 
was  rejoicing  in  Heaven,  but  none  in  the  church  at 
Medicine  Lodge.  For  two  years  she  attended  church, 
and  not  an  officer  or  member  ever  called  to  see  her.  I 
would  visit  her,  and  often  take  her  clothes  for  her  chil 
dren,  also  read  the  Bible,  and  prayed  with  her.  I  did 
not  wish  her  to  notice  the  lack  of  all  Christian  fellow 
ship,  but  she  saw  the  cool  way  in  which  she  was  treat 
ed  and  she  stopped  going  to  church.  A  false  report 
of  treachery  was  told  to  this  minister  by  her  unfeeling 
jealous  husband,  and  without  going  to  see  this  poor 
woman,  it  was  decided  to'  take  her  name  from  the 
church  book. 

One  Lord's  Day  morning,  before  Mr.  Nicholson 
commenced  his  sermon,  he  said:  "It  is  the  painful  duty 
of  the  church  to  withdraw  fellowship  from  Sister 
Tucker,  v/ho  has  been  living  in  open  adultery."  I  was 
sitting  in  front,  and  I  rose  to  my  feet. 

Mr.  Nicholson  said :  "You  sit  down,  the  elders  will 
attend  to  this." 

I  said:  "No,  the  elders  will  not,  but  I  will.  What 
you  have  said  is  not  true  about  this  woman.  She  has 
been  a  member  of  the  church  for  two  years,  and  neither 
you  nor  the  elders,  nor  any  member  of  this  church 
have  been  in  her  home.  I  do  for  that  woman  what  I 
would  want  some  one  to  do  for  me,  under  the  same 
circumstances.  These  elders  never  reclaim  the  erring 
or  pray  with  the  dying,  but  this  poor  little  lamb  has 
come  in  for  shelter,  and  they  are  pulling  the  fleece  off 
of  her. 

All  this  time.  Mr.  Nicholson  was  telling  me  in  angry 
tones  to  "sit  down."  He  then  called  on  the  elders  to 


102  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

take  me  out,  came  down  from  the  pulpit,  took  me  by 
the  arm  intending  to  put  me  out  himself,  but  he  could 
not  move  me.  I  turned  to  the  audience,  told  them 
what  the  preacher  said  could  not  be  proven.  The 
Normal  school  was  in  session  and  there  were  many 
strangers  present.  I  sat  down  as  calmly  as  if  nothing 
had  happened,  and  waited  until  the  close. 

Mr.  Nicholson  came  to  me  after  service  and  said: 
"We  will  settle  your  case." 

I  said:  "  Do  your  worst  and  do  your  best." 

That  afternoon  the  elders  met  in  the  church,  and 
withdrew  from  me  because  I  was  a  "stumbling  block," 
and  a  disturber  of  the  peace."  This  was  a  grief  to  me, 
for  my  beloved  father,  mother,  brothers  and  sisters 
belonged  to  this  society  of  Christians,  and  I  had,  since 
I  was  a  child  ten  years  of  age.  I  wept  much  over  this, 
but  I  went  to  church  as  usual. 

I  became  very  much  interested  in  the  prohibition 
cause,  seeing  the  great  advantage  it  was  to  Kansas, 
even  with  all  the  treachery  of  the  officers.  Brother 
Wesley  Cain  was  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Med 
icine  Lodge,  and  his  wife  was  a  noble  souled  woman, 
interested  in  everything  that  was  good.  The  poor 
never  applied  to  Brother  Cain  and  his  wife  in  vain. 
She  often  spoke  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  work  in  Iowa 
where  she  had  formerly  lived.  I  spoke  to  her  several 
times  about  organizing  a  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  she  did  so 
and  I  was  made  Jail  Evangelist.  After  that,  upon  the 
death  of  the  county  president,  she  asked  me  to  fill  that 
position  and  I  did. 

Samson's  mother  was  the  first  woman  we  ever 
heard  of  taking  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  pledge  and  Almighty 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  103 

God  required  it  of  her.  (Judges  13.) 

I  was  Jail  Evangelist  at  this  time  for  the  W.  C.  T. 
TJ.  ajid  I  learned  that  almost  everyone  who  was  in  jail 
was  directly  or  indirectly  there  from  the  influence  of 
intoxicating  drinks.  I  began  to  ask  why  should  we 
have  the  result  of  the  saloon,  when  Kansas  was  a  pro 
hibition  state,  arid  the  constitution  made  it  a  crime  to 
manufacture,  barter,  sell  or  give  away  intoxicating 
drinks?  Saving  for  mechanical,  medicinal  or  scienti 
fic  purposes,  and  here  is  the  loop  hole  through  which 
the  dishonest  druggist  gets  their  work.  When  I  went 
to  Medicine  Lodge  there  were  seven  dives  where  drink 
was  sold.  I  will  give  some  reasons  why  they  were  re 
moved.  I  began  to  harass  these  dive-keepers,  although 
they  were  not  as  much  to  blame  as  the  city  officials 
who  allowed  them  to  run.  Mart  Strong  was  a  noted 
joint-keeper.  He  and  his  son,  Frank,  were  both  bad 
drinking  characters,  and  would  sell  it  every  chance 
they  got.  Mart  had  a  dive  and  I  was  in  several  times 
to  talk  to  him,  and  he  would  try  to  flatter  me  and  turn 
things  into  a  joke.  When  he  saw  I  did  not  listen  to 
such  talk,  he  treated  me  very  rudely.  One  Saturday 
I  saw  quite  a  number  of  men  go  into  his  place,  and  I 
went  in  also.  Saloons  in  Kansas  generally  have  a  front 
room  to  enter  as  a  precaution,  then  a  back  room  where 
the  bar  is.  I  didn't  get  farther  than  the  front,  for 
Mart  came  hastily,  taking  me  by  the  shoulders  and 
said :  "Get  or.t  of  here,  you  crazy  woman."  I  was 
singing  this  song,  to  the  tune  of  "Where  He  leads  me 
I  will  follows :" 

\Vho  hath  sorrow?   Who  hath  W"oe? 

They  who  dare  not  answer  no ; 


104  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

They  whose  feet  to  sin  incline, 
While  they  tarry  at  the  wine. 

CHORUS  : 

They  who  tarry  at  the  wine  cup, 
They  who  tarry  at  the  wine  cup, 
They  who  tarry  at  the  wine  cup, 
They  have  sorrow  they  have  woe. 

Who  hath  babblings,  who  hath  strife? 
He  who  leads  a  drunkard's  life, 
He  whose  loved  ones  weep  and  pine, 
While  he  tarries  at  the  wine. 

Who  hath  wounds  without  a  cause? 
He  who  breaks  God's  holy  laws ; 
He  who  scorns  the  Lord  divine. 
While  he  tarries  at  the  wine. 

Who  hath  redness  at  the  eyes  ? 
Who  brings  poverty  and  sighs? 
Unto  homes  almost  divine, 
While  he  tarries  at  the  wine? 

Touch  not,  taste  not,  handle  not ; 
Drink  will  make  the  dark,  dark  blot, 
Like  an  adder  it  will  sting, 
And  at  last  to  ruin  bring, 
They  who  tarry  at  the  drink." 

I  continued  to  sing  this,  with  tears  running  down 
my  face.  When  I  finished  the  song  there  was  a  great 
crowd ;  some  of  the  men  had  tears  in  their  eyes  as  well. 
James  Gano,  the  constable,  was  standing  near  the  door 
and  said :  "I  wish  I  could  take  you  off  the  streets."  I 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  105 

said :  "Yes,  you  want  to  take  me,  a  woman,  whose 
heart  is  breaking  to  see  the  ruin  of  these  men,  the 
desolate  homes  and  broken  laws,  and  you  a  ronstable, 
oath-bound  to  close  this  man's  unlawful  business." 

The  treatment  I  received  at  the  hands  of  this  Mart 
Strong  was  told  to  the  mayor  and  councilmen,  and 
there  was  great  indignation.  The  councilmen  went 
to  Mart's  place  that  night.  The  door  was  locked  and 
a  number  of  gamblers  were  in  there.  The  mayor 
forced  the  door  open  and  told  Mart  Strong  never  to 
open  business  in  the  town  again.  He  left  next  day, 
and  this  closed  up  one  of  the  worst  places  in  the  town. 
Then  there  was  Henry  Durst,  another  jointist  of  long 
standing  who  was  a  German  and  had  accumulated 
quite  a  lot  of  property  by  his  dishonest  business.  He 
was  a  prominent  Catholic.  A  Mrs.  Elliott,  a  good 
Christian  woman,  came  to  my  home  crying  bitterly 
and  between  sobs  told  me,  that  for  six  weeks  her  hus 
band  had  been  drinking  at  Durst's  bar,  until  he  was 
crazy.  She  had  been  washing  to  feed  her  three  chil 
dren  and  for  some  days  had  nothing  in  the  house  but 
cornbread  and  molasses.  She  said  that  her  husband 
had  come  in,  wild  with  drink  had  run  his  family  out  of 
the  house,  and  kicked  over  the  table.  She  said:  "I 
came  to  you  to  ask  you  what  to  do." 

I  did  not  speak  a  word,  for  I  was  too  full  of  conflict- 
ings  feelings ;  but  I  put  on  my  bonnet  and  Sister  Elliot 
asked  me  what  I  was  going  to  do.  I  told  her  that  I 
did  not  know,  but  for  her  to  come  with  me.  Walked 
down  to  Henry  Durst's  place,  a  distance  of  half  a  mile. 
I  fell  down  on  my  knees  before  the  screen  and  began 
to  call  on  God.  There  were  five  men  in  there  drink- 


106  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

ing.  I  was  indifferent  to  those  passing  the  street.  It 
was  a  strange  sight  to  see  women  on  their  knees  on  the 
most  prominent  part  of  the  street.  I  told  God  about 
this  man  selling  liquor  to  this  woman's  husband,  and 
told  Him  she  had  been  washing  to  get  bread,  and 
asked  God  to  close  up  this  den  and  drive  this  man  out. 
Mrs.  Elliott  also  prayed.  We  then  told  this  man  that 
God  would  hear  and  that  hell  was  his  portion  if  he 
did  not  change.  In  a  short  time  he  closed  his  bar,  left 
his  family  there,  and  went  to  another  state.  His  prop 
erty  was  sold  gradually  and  he  never  returned,  except 
to  move  his  family  away,  and  I  heard  afterwards  he 
was  reduced  to  poverty. 

Another  jointist  was  named  Hank  O'Bryan.  In 
passing  his  place  one  night  from  prayer-meeting,  I 
smelled  the  horrid  drink  and  went  in.  A  man  by  the 
name  of  Grogan  was  there,  half  drunk,  and  I  said: 
"You  have  a  dive  here."  Mr.  Grogan  replied:  "No, 
Mother  Nation,  you  are  wrong,  and  I  can  prove  it." 

"Let  me  see  what  you  have  in  the  back  room,"  I 
asked.  "All  right,  Mother,"  he  said,  and  took  me 
through  several  passages,  until  I  came  to  a  very  small 
room  with  a  table  covered  with  beer  bottles,  that  had 
been  recently  emptied,  and  in  one  corner  sat  a  Mr. 
Smith,  a  man  from  Sharon,  who  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  had 
been  talking  of  arresting  for  selling  liquor  in  that 
town.  Grogan  introduced  me  to  him,  and  he,  Mr. 
Smith,  looked  terrified  and  astonished.  I  took  up  one 
of  the  bottles  and  asked  what  it  had  contained.  He 
replied :  "Hop  Tea."  I  asked :  "What  name  is  that  on 
the  label?"  It  was  "Anheuser-Busch,"  but  could  get 
neither  of  them  to  pronounce  it.  I  turned  up  one  of 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  107 

the  bottles  and  put  it  to  my. lips  and  told  them  that  it 
was  beer,  and  that  I  could  take  an  oath  that  it  was. 
Grogan  threw  up  his  hands  saying:  "Now,  Mother 
Nation,  if  you  get  me  into  trouble  I  will  do  something 
desperate."  I  had  visited  this  man  Grogan  in  jail  a 
year  before  this,  where  he  was  put  for  getting  drunk 
and  fighting.  I  said :  "I  do  not  wish  to  get  either  of 
you  in  trouble,  but  want  to  get  you  out."  I  had  my 
Bible  with  me  and  I  opened  it  to  several  passages 
where  drink  was  condemned,  and  told  them  where  it 
would  lead.  I  told  them  I  would  not  speak  of  this  to 
anyone.  When  I  said  I  would  not  "tell  on  them"  the 
look  of  gladness  on  their  faces  was  pitiful  to  see. 

I  said:  "I  am  going  to  pray  God  to  have  mercy  on 
you.  Kneel  down."  Like  two  obedient  little  children, 
they  knelt.  Some  may  smile  at  this,  but  I  was  deeply 
affected  and  felt  a  compassion  and  tenderness  toward 
these  poor  men,  whom  the  devil  was  leading  captive  at 
his  will.  That  prayer  I  offered,  was  heard. 

In  one  week  from  that  time  this  man  Grogan  came 
to  my  house,  and  fell  down  at  my  feet  crying  and 
wringing  his  hands  saying :  "Oh  !  Mrs.  Nation  I  am 
going  to  hell,  but  it  is  not  your  fault  and  I  came  to  ask 
you  to  pray  for  me."  He  was  in  great  agony  of  soul. 
He  had  been  drinking  until  he  was  almost  crazy.  He 
left  in  about  half  an  hour,  saying  he  "was  going  to 
hell,"  but  I  told  him :  No ;  to  have  faith  in  God  and  He 
would  save  him. 

This  was  the  last  I  saw  of  him,  but  I  heard  after 
wards  that  he  had  a  small  store  in  Wichita  and  was 
living  in  the  rear  of  it  with  his  family.  The  person 
who  told  me  of  him,  said  that  he  asked  Mr.  Grogan  if 


108  THE   USE  AND    NEED  OF 

he  sold  liquor.  His  answer  was:  "No,  I  got  enough 
of  that  in  Medicine  Lodge." 

Mr.  Smith  became  a  wreck,  and  lost  his  business  in 
Sharon.  After  I  came  out  of  jail  in  Wichita  the  third 
time,  I  met  a  man  on  the  street  and  he  made  himself 
known  as  the  Smith  of  Sharon.  He  looked  quite  well 
and  said  he  had  quit  drinking  entirely  and  was  a  real 
estate  dealer  in  Wichita. 

I  soon  heard  of  its  being  told  around  in  Medicine 
Lodge  that  I  drank  beer  in  a  dive.  So  I  went  to  Hank 
O'Bryan's  restaurant  and  said:  "Some  of  these  joint- 
ists  are  telling  that  I  drank  in  a  dive.  Now  if  it  comes 
to  the  ears  of  the  public,  I  will  have  to  go  on  the  wit 
ness  stand  and  tell  where  I  drank  beer."  Hank  turned 
pale,  looked  comical  and  I  never  heard  any  more  of 
that. 

There  was  a  saloon  keeper  in  Kiowa,  named  Billy 
Morris  and  living  with  him  as  his  wife  was  a  girl 
whose  name  was  Cora  Bennett.  This  poor  girl  had 
been  living  an  irregular  life,  but  was  true  to  this  man, 
who  had  promised  her  time  after  time  to  marry  her, 
but  was  only  deceiving  her.  She  entered  his  bar  room 
one  day  and  told  him  he  must  fulfill  his  promise  to  her 
now,  or  she  would  kill  him.  He  laughed  at  her.  She 
fired  a  shot  and  killed  him  on  the  spot;  then  the  poor 
girl  fell  on  his  dead  body  screaming  in  a  distracted 
manner.  She  was  arrested  and  brought  to  jail  at 
Medicine  Lodge;  and  was  there  six  months.  Being 
Jail  Evangelist  I  went  to  see  her,  sometimes  twice  a 
week.  When  I  first  saw  her  she  was  reticent,  and  did 
not  seem  glad  to  see  me.  She  was  so  nice,  that  I  fell 
in  love  with  her  and  I  asked  the  ladies  of  the  W.  C.  T. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  109 

U.  to  visit  her,  but  they  thought  her  a  hopeless  case. 
She  bought  a  Bible  and  we  would  read  and  pray  to 
gether  and  talk  about  the  need  of  Christ  in  our  lives. 
She  was  a  woman  of  great  sympathy.  I  asked  her 
once :  "Did  you  ever  love  anyone."  She  wept  bitterly 
and  said :  ''Yes,  the  man  I  killed." 

Toward  the  last  she  seemed  perfectly  delighted 
when  I  came  to  her  cell.  She  consented  to  go  to  a 
home  where  she  would  have  friends  who  would  keep 
her,  to  make  a  change  in  her  life.  The  morning  she 
left  I  went  to  the  jail  and  rode  with  her  in  the  hack 
to  the  depot  and  then  to  a  town  about  twenty  miles 
east  of  Medicine  Lodge,  called  Attica.  On  the  train 
from  Medicine  Lodge  to  Attica,  the  deputy  sheriff  had 
a  man  give  this  girl  a  letter  from  him,  telling  her  to 
meet  him  at  Wellington.  The  girl's  father  lived  at 
Attica,  and  an  older  sister  of  her's  met  us.  I  could 
see  the  sister  was  not  a  good  woman.  She  took  Cora 
to  a  room  and  exchanged  her  modest  clothes  for  a 
showy  hat  and  elaborate  silk  dress ;  and  when  I  saw 
her  it  almost  broke  my  heart.  I  said  to  her:  "Oh, 
Cora,  all  my  work  to  save  you  is  in  vain."  I  would 
rather  have  seen  her  drop  dead,  and  I  grieved  all  the 
way  home.  From  Attica  she  went  to  Wellington,  in 
stead  of  Olathe,  Kansas,  where  she  was  to  enter  this 
home.  James  Dobson  was  sheriff  of  Barber  county, 
and  his  brother  kept  a  saloon  in  Kiowa,  the  first  saloon 
I  ever  smashed. 

I  heard  no  good  news  of  Cora  for  some  years.  She 
led  a  bad  life.  Five  years  later,  through  a  W.  C.  T. 
U.  lecturer,  I  heard  that  she  was  married  and  living 
in  Colorado;  and  she  was  ?.i  efficient  worker  as  a  W. 


110  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

C.  T.  U.  woman ;  among1  fallen  women.  She  told  of 
her  past  life  and  of  a  Mrs.  Nation  visiting  her.  This 
woman  said  it  was  so  incredible  to  believe  that  Cora 
could  have  been  so  bad,  and  had  taken  a  human  life, 
that  she  was  anxious  to  see  the  place  in  Kiowa  and  to 
see  Cora's  prison  cell,  and  meet  me.  I  was  then  in 
Oklahoma,  and  I  certainly  rejoiced  over  this  news 
from  her  I  had  learned  to  love.  I  saw  in  this  wayward 
girl  certain  qualities  that  would  be  a  power  for  good, 
if  once  God  could  have  His  way  with  her  life. 

There  are  diamonds  in  the  slush  and  filth  of  this 
world.  Happy  is  he  who  picks  them  up  and  helps  to 
wash  the  dirt  away,  that  they  may  shine  for  God.  I 
am  very  much  drawn  to  my  fallen  sisters.  Oh !  the 
cruelty  and  oppression  they  meet  with !  If  the  first 
stone  was  cast  by  those  who  were  guiltless,  those  who 
were  to  be  stoned  would  rarely  get  a  blow. 

O.   L.   DAY'S  DRUG   STORE. 

There  was  a  druggist,  O.  L.  Day,  in  Medicine  Lodge 
who  was  unlawfully  selling  intoxicating  liquor.  He 
himself  was  drinking ;  as  was  his  clerk.  I  was  told  of 
a  deposit  of  this  contraband  goods.  I  put  a  little  boy 
on  my  buggy  horse  and  sent  a  letter  to  our  dear  Sister 
Cain,  who  was  president  of  our  local  union.  She  called 
several  of  the  women  together  at  our  W.  C.  T.  U. 
room  and  told  them  what  I  knew  of  O.  L.  Day  receiv 
ing  these  intoxicants.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  dis 
cussion,  but  at  last  it  was  decided  that  we  should  in 
vestigate.  At  that  time  I  was  regarded  as  a  fanatic, 
and  many  of  these  were  afraid  for  me  to  plan  for  them, 
so  I  kept  very  quiet.  It  was  finally  agreed  that  Mrs. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  Ill 

A.  L.  Noble  and  Mrs.  Runyan  should  go  first  and  see 
how  matters  were.  Sister  Runyan  finally  said  before 
we  got  there :  "Let  Mrs.  Nation  go  in  my  place."  I 
said :  "Thank  God !"  Oh,  I  was  so  glad,  for  I  felt  that 
I  could  handle  this  case. 

O.  L.  Day  was  a  gentleman  by  nature.  He  was  a 
man  with  one  fault,  and  that  was  alcoholism.  Mrs. 
Noble  said:  "You  do  the  talking."  While  we  were 
in  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  room  discussing,  Sister  Runyan 
said :  "I  will  not  have  aything  to  do  with  this  if  Mrs. 
Nation  does."  I  kept  still,  praying  for  the  raid  to  go 
through,  even  if  I  was  not  in  it ;  and  when  it  came  to 
the  point,  I  had  just  what  I  wanted.  I  felt  entirely 
equal  to  the  occasion.  Sister  Runyan  did  not  under 
stand  me  then,  for  we  are  the  best  of  friends  and  she 
has  been  true  to  me  in  my  efforts  to  defend  the  homes 
of  Kansas.  I  told  Mr.  Day,  we  as  a  W.  C.  T.  U. 
thought  he  had  not  been  dealing  fairly,  and  I  looked 
at  his  little  back  room  suspiciously,  as  much  as  to  say : 
"I  would  like  to  see  what  you  have  in  there."  He  said: 
"Ladies  would  you  like  to  go  in  that  room  ?"  I  said : 
"Yes."  I  knew  I  could  discover  the  secret.  I  saw  be 
hind  the  prescription  case  a  ten  gallon  keg.  I  said  to 
myself:  "That  is  a  find."  About  this  time  the  rest  of 
the  women,  accompanied  by  Sister  Cain,  came  in  the 
front  door.  Mr.  Day  was  as  white  as  death  all  the 
time.  As  soon  as  he  went  to  the  front  I  smelled  the 
keg  bung.  I  turned  it  on  one  side  and  rolled  it  to  the 
front  saying ;  "Women,  .this  is  the  whiskey !"  Mr. 
Day's  clerk  caught  the  end  of  the  keg  to  turn  it  out 
of  my  hands  and  on  the  other  side  of  it  was  Jim  Gano, 
the  marshal,  who  I  think  hauled  all  the  divekeepers' 


112  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

goods  to  them.  Nine  years  have  passed  since  this  oc 
curred  and  this  is  the  third  edition  of  my  book.  Mr. 
Gano  is  a  man  with  a  kind  heart  and  generous,  but 
drink  was  his  enemy.  An  intimate  friend  in  speaking 
of  Mr.  Gano,  said:  "Jim  ^s  Just  as  much  opposed  to 
whiskey  as  you  are,  he  is  a  changed  man."  I  said  to 
him  once  when  we  were  quarrelling,  which  we  often 
did,  and  I  referred  to  his  beautiful  boy  Jerry  who  was 
then  not  more  than  fifteen,  "How  would  you  like  to 
see  that  boy  drink  liquor?"  Mr.  Gano  replied:  "He 
can  drink  all  he  wants  too  like  his  daddy."  I  said: 
"Never  mind  you  will  live  to  eat  those  words."  And 
he  has.  "Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also 
reap."  (Gal.  6  :7.)  I  then  placed  a  foot  on  each  side  of 
the  keg  and  held  it  firm  with  both  feet  and  hands.  Jim 
Gano  sprang  in  front  of  me  and  with  his  chest  against 
my  head,  I  thought  certainly  he  would  break  my  neck. 
I  called  to  the  women  to  help  me.  Mrs.  Noble  caught 
him  by  one  side  of  the  collar  and  some  one  the  other 
side  and  held  him  back  against  the  counter  until  I  could 
roll  the  keg  out  into  the  street.  All  this  time  Sister 
Cain,  like  a  general,  was  saying:  "Don't  any  one  touch 
these  women.  They  are  right.  They  are  Christian  wo 
men,  trying  to  save  the  boys  of  our  state."  I  called 
for  a  hatchet  from  the  hardware  store  of  Mr.  Case. 
He  was  very  angry  and  said :  "No !"  He  also,  was 
drinking  too  much.  I  called  to  Mrs.  Noble  to  get  a 
sledge  hammer  from  the  blacksmith  shop  across  the 
street.  She  did  and  handed  it  to  me.  I  struck  with  all 
my  might.  The  whiskey  flew  high  in  the  air.  The  wo 
men  came  near  to  pour  it  out,  but  I  said :  "Save  some." 
So  Sister  Runyan  got  a  bottle  and  filled  it.  Then  we 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  113 

poured  it  out  and  set  it  afire.  I  fell  on  my  knees  in 
the  middle  of  the  street  and  thanked  God  for  this  vic 
tory.  Dr.  Gould,  a  man  "fit  for  treason,  stratagem  and 
spoils,"  was  the  one  to  help  Day  dispose  of  these 
drinks,  as  many  doctors  do.  This  doctor  gave  out  that 
this  was  "California  Brandy,"  costing  seventy-five  dol 
lars,  that  he  had  advised  Day  to  get  it  for  medical  pur 
poses. 

Mr.  Day  was  at  this  time  getting  a  permit  to  sell  it 
for  medical  purposes.  He  appeared  in  court  to  prove 
he  was  a  graduate  pharmacist,  never  drank,  and  never 
had  a  clerk  that  did.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.  were  there  in 
a  body.  We  contested  his  right  to  have  the  permit. 
Poor  man.  I  pitied  him.  He  was  very  much  under 
the  influence  of  intoxicants.  When  asked :  "What  that 
was  in  the  keg  the  ladies  rolled  out  of  his  drug  store 
on  the  16th  of  February ?"  he  said:  "It  was  California 
brandy."  When  asked  :  :'If  he  knew  the  taste  of  whis 
key  and  brandy,"  he  said:  "Yes."  We  handed  him  a 
bottle  of  this  that  he  said  was  brandy.  He  pronounced 
it  "a  poor  quality  of  sour  mash  whiskey."  Sister  Run- 
van  was  then  put  on  the  stand  and  said :  "It  came  from 
the  keg  that  was  smashed." 

This  man  was  so  humbled  that  he  sold  out  in  a 
month  and  left  Medicine  Lodge.  There  are  parties  in 
that  town  who  are  more  responsible  than  O.  L.  Day. 
They  did  everything  in  their  power  to  have  him  do 
that  which  was  his  ruin.  In  retaliation  for  this  the 
republican  rum  .element  one  night  made  an  attack  on 
Sister  Cain's  and  my  house,  broke  windows  and  threw 
rocks,  and  broke  my  buggy.  They  also  sent  a  negro 
to  my  house,  named  Haskel,  a  noted  Bootlegger.  He 


114  THE   USE   AND    NEED   OF 

asked  for  an  interview.  He  had  quite  a  tale  to  tell  me 
about  hearing  some  men  say  that  if  the  women  ap 
peared  against  Day  that  my  house  would  go.  I  am  so 
well  acquainted  with  the  colored  race  I  could  read  him 
from  the  first  and  knew  that  these  "Rummies"  had  put 
this  negro  up  to  intimidate  me.  I  listened  as  if  I  be 
lieved.  Then  I  said:  "Haskel  you  ought  to  know  by 
this  time  that  such  men  as  these  will  not  prevent  me 
from  doing  my  duty,  besides  should  my  home  be  burn 
ed,  it  would  be  a  lecture  in  favor  of  my  cause  that 
would  be  worth  more  to  me  than  the  home.  Now 
Haskel  you  get  in  the  company  of  these  men  and  you 
tell  them  what  I  have  told  you."  This  negro  pretend 
ed  to  me  that  he  came  to  me  as  a  friend.  When  I  told 
him  what  I  did,  his  expression  was  amusing  to  see. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SPIRITUAL    LEADINGS. JESUS    A     CONSCIOUS     PRESENCE 

THREE  DAYS. LOSS  OF  LIBERTY  BY  COMPROMISING. 

THE  PRICE  PAID  TO  BE  REINSTATED. DISGRACE  TO  BE 

A   MILLIONAIRE. 

I  had  once  while  in  Medicine  Lodge,  a  heavenly  rap 
ture  for  three  days.  My  Savior  was  my  constant  com 
panion.  I  saw  no  form,  heard  no  word.  But  His  dear 
face  was  just  behind  and  looking  over  my  right  shoul 
der.  He  was  a  conscious  presence  and  the  deep  peace 
was  beyond  any  experience  I  ever  had.  I  shunned  peo 
ple.  I  would  talk  to  Him,  would  sing  and  play  the 
accompaniment  on  the  organ.  I  was  particular  about 
my  home  work.  While  I  saw  no  face,  or  form,  I  real 
ized  that  His  was  a  sweet,  smiling,  gratified  expres 
sion,  and  it  told  me  I  was  pleasing  Him.  I  did  not 
seem  then  to  think  this  anything  wonderful,  and  have 
often  reproached  myself  for  not  setting  more  store  by 
this  at  the  time. 

There  was  a  period  of  from  six  months  to  a  year 
that  I  was  terribly  haunted  by  the  sensation  of  hang 
ing  over  a  precipice.  I  hung  only  by  a  rope  above 
my  head  held  by  a  hand  out  of  a  cloud.  At  night  or 
in  the  day,  it  was  the  same  uneasy  dread  of  falling. 
The  precipice  below  was  black  and  horrible.  There 
were  banks  on  each  side.  At  last  I  swung  over,  land 
ing  on  the  right  side.  Oh  !  the  relief ! 

I  asked  an  old-fashioned  sister,  whom  I  knew  was  a 
saint,  to  tell  me  what  was  wrong  in  my  testimony.  "I 


116  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

do  not  have  liberty  when  I  speak."  She  said:  "You 
do  not  praise  God  enough."  I  began  to  pray  for  a 
spirit  of  praise.  Shortly  after  this  I  was  at  prayer- 
meeting,  was  praying  for  a  spirit  of  praise.  It  was 
put  in  my  mouth  I  rose  to  my  feet  and  began  to  say : 
"Praise  God !  Praise  God !"  Repeating  it  over  and 
over.  Oh !  how  sweet  to  use  and  hear  those  words ! 
I  could  scarcely  repress  the  impulse  to  use  them  all  the 
time.  For  a  long  time  after  this,  when  the  Bible  was 
read  or  testimony  struck  me  as  being  just  right,  I 
would  audibly  say:  "Praise  God!"  This  was  a  "gift," 
for  I  had  never  felt  the  impulse  before.  I  have  in  a 
measure  left  this  off,  but  I  use  it  all  the  time,  when  I 
hear  good  news,  or  see  what  pleases  me.  "He  led  cap 
tivity  (sin)  captive  and  gave  gifts  unto  men."r  Ever 
since  I  received  the  "baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  I 
have  liked  one  church  about  as  well  as  another.  I  go 
to  all  even  the  Catholic.  I  fast  on  Friday  and  use  the 
sign  of  the  cross.  Fast,  because  my  Savior  suffered 
in  the  flesh  on  Friday;  use  the  sign  of  the  cross,  be 
cause  in  the  cross  is  salvation.  Meditations  on  the 
cross  always  lift  heavenward.  Tis  the  royal  way,  I 
want  to  keep  it  always  in  view,  want  it  to  be  the  last  I 
see.  We  who  bear  the  cross  continually  in  this  tran 
sient  life,  will  wear  the  crown  continually  in  the  eter 
nal.  I  love  a  picture  of  the  cross  or  a  crucifix.  I  am 
debtor  both  to  the  Jew  and  the  Greek.  I  do  not  feel 
the  dislike  to  the  Catholic  church  that  some  Protest 
ants  do.  God's  church  is  invisible  to  the  world,  for  it 
is  set  up  in  the  hearts  of  the  children  of  men.  I  have 
been  greatly  edified  by  conversing  with  Catholic 
priests.  When  I  lived  in  Texas  my  spiritual  condition 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  117 

was  such  that  I  wanted  some  explanation.  I  went  to 
see  Father  Hennesy,  of  Houston,  I  explained  to  him 
my  strange  leadings,  he  said  a  wise  and  good  thing, 
told  me  to  "read  the  scriptures  and  pray  and  God 
would  lead  me  right." 

I  had  a  great  anxiety  at  one  time  that  threatened  to 
take  away  my  reason,  I  was  almost  in  despair.  I 
prayed  God  to  lift  the  burden.  One  night  I  had  a 
dream,  I  was  walking  in  a  woodland  and  a  beautiful 
light  was  over  all  and  flowers  in  the  shape  of  words, 
which  I  did  not  read,  began  to  fall  from  heaven. 
When  I  awoke  the  horrible  gloom  was  gone ;  this  was 
very  marvelous  to  me. 

I  was  lying  on  the  floor  once,  when  things  seemed 
so  dark,  and  I  had  great  forbodings,  and  God  gave  me 
a  vision.  I  saw  what  seemed  to  be  an  earth  quake,  the 
lightening  was  flashing,  and  I  saw  a  bright  glow  in 
the  midst  and  in  that  glow  were  two  people  one  was 
like  the  Son  of  Man  and  the  other  was  myself. 

I  was  at  church  in  Medicine  Lodge  one  night,  during 
a  protracted  meeting  held  by  Bro.  Parker  and  Hodges. 
Two  sisters  came  to  me  and  complained  that  I  made 
so  much  noise,  that  they  could  not  enjoy  the  service. 
I  said :  "To  please  you  I  will  try  to  keep  quiet,  but  re 
member  it  is  my  God  and  your  God  I  am  praising.  I 
would  rejoice  to  hear  you  praise  Him."  Next  night 
something  was  said  that  was  good  to  me.  I  said: 
Traise  God !"  caught  myself  when  I  saw  one  of  the 
sisters  near,  and  from  that  time  I  felt  little  impulse 
and  at  last  none.  I  went  to  every  meeting  but  lost  my 
liberty  and  became  so  bound,  I  could  not  testify  or 
pray.  I  was  very  miserable,  would  weep  from  a  deso- 


118  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

lation  of  spirit.  This  continued  for  three  weeks.  The 
meeting  was  still  going  on.  My  spiritual  darkness  be 
came  so  great,  I  went  up  one  afternoon  to  the  altar. 
I  rose  and  told  of  how  I  had  "lost  my  liberty  and  peace 
by  withholding  praise  to  God  by  trying  to  please  two 
sisters."  While  I  was  confessing,  the  spirit  fell  in 
great  power  and  I  acted  as  if  I  were  beside  myself.  I 
was  almost  wild  with  delight.  I  seemed  to  fly  home 
and  back  in  the  evening.  One  in  this  state  appears 
crazy  to  the  world,  even  disgusting.  No  one  sees  a 
reason  for  this  unnatural  overflow  of  feeling.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  service,  opportunity  was  given  for 
testimony.  I  rose  eager  to  tell  of  my  returned  joy; 
told  of  praying  for,  and  getting  what  I  prayed  for, 
then  losing  it,  by  compromise  ;  closed  by  saying :  'That 
never  again  would  I  refuse  to  do  the  will  of  God  even 
if  it  offended  all  and  made  me  appear  a  fool."  My 
testimony  seemed  to  be  fanatical,  for  my  manner  indi 
cated  one  greatly  moved.  When  I  took  my  seat  a 
"still  small  voice"  said :  "You  must  sing  a  song."  Bro. 
Osburn  was  sitting  near.  He  had  the  song  book  "Fin 
est  of  the  Wheat,'  in  his  hands.  I  took  it  then  handed 
it  back.  I  felt  like  one  in  a  dreadful  dilemma — all  joy 
had  given  place  to  fear.  Bro.  Osburn  again  handed 
me  the  book.  I  felt  then  I  must  go  through  this  try 
ing  ordeal.  I  took  the  book,  walked  up  to  the  front, 
all  were  standing,  the  church  crowded  and  Bro.  Parker 
gave  out  the  number  of  the  hymn  "40."  "No,"  I  said, 
"We  will  sing  No.  3."  This  song  was,  "I  know  Not 
Why  This  Wondrous  Grace  To  Me  He  Hath  Made 
Known."  Bro.  Parker  gave  out  the  number  again.  I 
said,  "No,"  and  began  to  sing.  Bro.  Allen  accompan- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  119 

led  me  with  his  cornet.  Of  course  one  can  imagine 
what  an  impression  this  would  make  on  an  audience. 
I  sang  two  verses  and  the  chorus.  I  then  took  my  seat. 
Then  a  flood  of  peace  and  heavenly  companionship 
took  possession  of  me.  I  then  knew  what  it  was  to 
have  angels  minister  unto  you.  God  took  me  at  my 
word  and  made  me  appear  a  "fool,"  and  objectionable, 
to  the  whole  people.  What  a  fatal  result  there  might 
have  been,  if  I  had  not  obeyed  God ! 

I  know  why  people  do  not  have  power  with  God. 
They  will  not  abandon  themselves  to  the  whole  will 
of  God,  because  they  will  not  suffer  the  offence  of  the 
cross.  Why  care  for  the  criticism  of  men  that  change 
and  die ! 

I  had  an  experience  once  for  eight  months,  when  I 
felt  that  Christ  had  turned  his  face  from  me,  not  in 
displeasure,  but  this  was  a  trial  of  faith.  My  prayers 
had  no  response,  brought  me  no  hope  of  having  been 
heard.  But  I  prayed  quite  as  much,  if  not  more. 
Never  got  discouraged,  although  I  was  in  gloom,  and 
my  heart  was  like  lead.  All  at  once  there  was  a  return 
of  the  conscious  presence  of  God.  'Tis  a  poor  servant 
that  serves  only  for  hire.  "Though  He  slay  me  yet 
will  I  trust  Him."  (Job.  13:15.)  God  has  kept  me 
from  following  any  but  Him. 

One  dear  friend  thought  that  Haney  was  the  great 
holiness  teacher,  another  one  thought  Caradine.  They 
would  quote  their  sayings,  but  I  always  found  better 
and  clearer  teaching  in  the  word  of  God.  I  could  see 
errors  in  all  the  holiness  teachers,  but  not  one  in  the 
Bible.  The  book  of  Job  settled  the  question  of  the 
most  perfect  experience.  Men  can  be  perfect  men  and 


120  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

not  perfect  saints.  When  Job  was,  "holding  fast  his 
integrity/'  (Job  2:3),  God  did  not  bless  him  like  He 
did  when  Job  saw  the  perfection  of  God  and  said : 
"Wherefore  I  abhor  myself  and  repent  in  dust  and 
ashes."  (Job  42:0.)  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  the 
greatest  lesson  in  holiness  and  is  from  the  only  one 
that  can  teach  holiness.  Great  lessons  can  be  taught 
by  all  persons,  taught  of  God,  but  'tis  better  to  drink 
at  the  fountain  than  out  of  a  stale  bucket.  'Besides  all 
have  imperfection.  "To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony 
if  they  speak  not  according  to  this  word  it  is  because 
there  is  no  light  in  them."  (Tsa.  8  :20.)  "They  shall  all 
be  taught  of  God."  "If  any  lack  wisdom,  let  them  ask 
of  God  who  giveth  to  all  liberally  and  upbraideth  not, 
and  it  shall  be  given."  (Jas.  1:5.) 

From  the  time  that  my  Christian  experience  began, 
I  never  wished  to  be  associated  with  rich  people,  or 
rather  people  that  had  wealth  for  display.  I  would 
feel  uncomfortable  in  a  house  filled  with  furniture  or 
bric-a-brac.  It  would  be  an  evidence  to  me  of  the 
great  waste  of  money  and  time  by  the  owner.  Noth 
ing  had  value  to  me  only  as  it  could  be  used  for  the 
salvation  of  men  and  women,  and  the  glorifying  of 
God.  It  mortified  me  to  see  a  very  well  dressed  wo 
man.  I  noticed  that  those  so-called  fashionable  women 
really  never  had  time  or  money  to  do  charity.  Of 
course  there  are  exceptions.  The  display  of  wealth  to 
me  is  an  evidence  of  a  depraved  nature.  The  real  use 
of  wealth,  is  to  relieve  the  wants  of  mankind.  The 
time  is  coming  when  the  millionaires  will  be  the  de 
spised  of  the  people,  for  they  are  learning  fast  that 
people  who  amass  fortunes,  and  hoard  them,  are  in 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  121 

that  condition  because  they  have  ground  the  face  of 
the  poor.  They  are  not  honest  or  good.  A  man  or 
woman  now  that  can  hoard  money  or  goods  and  pass 
and  repass  the  suffering  every  day,  has  a  cold,  selfish 
heart,  and  instead  of  its  being  in  the  future  a  letter  of 
credit  to  say :  "Mr.  So  and  So  is  a  millionaire;"  it  will 
be  a  disgrace  as  it  should  be,  to  live  for  wealth  and 
self  alone.  Still  'tis  well  to  get  all  the  money  in  a  good 
way,  that  you  can  and  then  use  it  in  a  good  cause.  Job 
was  a  rich  man  but  he  was  a  friend  of  the  "fatherless 
and  widow."  He  dealt  his  bread  to  the  hungry.  He 
was  "feet  to  the  lame  and  eyes  to  the  blind."  Such  rich 
men  as  Job  are  blessings,  but  those  men  who  boast  of 
their  hoarded  treasures,  spend  their  money  in  the  grati 
fication  of  their  lusts,  to  them  God  says:  "Woe  or 
curses  unto  you  rich  men !  Weep  and  howl  for  your 
miseries  that  shall  come  upon  you !  Your  garments 
arc  moth  eaten,  your  gold  is  cankered  and  the  rust 
shall  eat  your  flesh  as  if  it  were  fire."  Yes,  there  is  a 
class  of  rich  men  that  would  now  howl,  and  weep  with 
all  their  money,  if  they  knew  their  fate. 

I  have  never  had  so  light  a  heart  or  felt  so  well 
satisfied  as  since  I  smashed  those  murder  mills.  For 
years  I  had  an  aching,  weeping  heart.  I  would  often 
put  ashes  on  my  head.  I  felt  like  wearing  sackcloth. 
I  can  see  the  hand  of  God  in  my  life.  From  a  small 
child  I  loved  the  world,  used  to  be  fond  of  pets.  It 
seemed  that  my  pets  always  came  to  grief.  Then  I  was 
very  anxious  to  be  thought  smart.  Would  try  to  write 
and  wanted  a  thorough  education.  I  became  almost 
an  invalid.  Could  not  attend  school.  Was  hindered 
on  account  of  the  circumstances  brought  about  by  the 


122  THE   USE   AND    NEED   OF 

Civil  war.  The  man  I  loved  and  married  brought  to 
me  bitter  grief.  The  child  I  loved  so  well  became 
afflicted  and  never  seemed  to  want  my  love.  The  man 
I  married,  hoping  to  serve  God,  I  found  to  be  opposed 
to  all  I  did,  as  a  Christian.  I  used  to  wonder  why  this 
was.  I  saw  others  with  their  loving  children  and  hus 
bands  and  I  would  wish  their  condition  was  mine.  I 
now  see  why  God  saw  in  me  a  great  lover,  and  in  or 
der  to  have  me  use  that  love  for  Him,  arid  others,  He 
did  not  let  me  have  those  that  would  have  narrowed 
my  life  down  to  my  own  selfish  wishes.  Oh !  the  grief 
He  has  sent  me !  Oh  !  the  fiery  trials !  Oh !  the  shat 
tered  hopes !  How  I  love  Him  for  this !  "Whom  the 
Lord  loveth  He  chasteneth  and  scourgeth  every  son 
whori  He  receiveth."  There  are  pages  in  my  life  that 
have  had  much  to  do  in  bringing  me  in  sympathy  with 
the  fallen  tempted  natures.  These  I  cannot  write,  but 
let  no  erring,  sinful  man  or  woman  think  that  Carry 
Nation  would  not  understand  this,  for  Carry  Nation 
is  a  sinner  saved  by  grace  and  I  know  He  can  save  to 
the  uttermost,  all  that  come  unto  Him.  ''Heaven  is 
made  for  redeemed  sinners  and  hell  for  the  proud  and 
disobedient."  When  I  see  the  proud  glance,  the  boast 
ful  manner,  the  display  of,  "I  am  better  than  thou," 
I  feel  pity  and  commiseration  for  the  poor  dying  crea 
ture  and  see  ''behind  the  face  a  grinning  skull."  I 
like  the  companionship  of  the  servant  in  the  kitchen 
more  than  the  mistress  in  the  parlor.  I  covet  the  hum 
blest  walk.  I  wish  for  the  power,  often,  to  make  the 
rich  take  back  seats,  and  give  the  front  to  the  poor, 
the  crippled,  the  lame  and  the  blind.  I  will  not  have 
a  piece  of  fine  furniture.  I  would  feel  like  a  reprobate 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  123 

to  fill  my  room  with  exquisite  furniture,  using  money 
I  could  feed  the  hungry  with,  clothe  the  naked,  doing 
things  that  would  please  my  Lord.  What  a  change! 
I  used  to  delight  in  cut-glass,  china,  plush,  velvet  and 
lace.  Now  I  can  say  vanity,  all  is  vanity !"  There 
may  be  almost  selfishness  in  this  eager  desire  I  have 
to  give  away  the  means  that  are  at  my  disposal.  What 
I  use  or  leave  behind  will  never  be  placed  to  my  credit 
in  the  bank  of  heaven.  What  we  give  away  for  the 
love  of  God  and  our  neighbor  is  all  we  take  with  us. 
I  will  be  so  delighted  with  a  home  that  I  can  call  mine, 
forever.  I  like  nice  wearing  apparel  but  I  will  not  be 
deceived  by  spending  my  time  and  means  for  that 
which  will  hinder  me  from  having  them  where  moth 
and  rust  doth  not  corrupt  and  where  thieves  do  not 
break  through  and  steal.  So  I  wish  to  make  to  my 
self  friends  of  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness  and 
not  enemies,  for  the  hoarded  dollars  are  bitter  foes  that 
will  be"  witnesses  against  these  rich  men  at  That  Day. 
From  the  beginning  of  my  Christian  experience  I 
have  devoted  myself  to  the  poor.  I  prayed  God  to 
give  me  opportunity  to  be  helpful  to  those  who  were 
destitute  of  the  comforts  of  life.  The  people  of  Med 
icine  Lodge  were  so  good  to  aid  me.  I  could  go  to  the 
stores  and  ask  for  flour,  sugar  and  different  kinds  of 
eatables  and  get  them.  There  was  one  man  I  never 
asked  in  vain,  when  I  wished  aid  for  the  poor,  that  was 
C.  Q.  Chandler,  a  man  who  was  able  to  help.  I  have 
taken  poor  children  to  his  house  and  he  has  given  me 
orders  at  the  dry  goods  stores  to  clothe  them,  so  they 
could  attend  school.  He-  has  given  me  money  fre 
quently  to  get  fuel  and  clothes  for  those  who  needed 


124:  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

them.  One  Christmas  he  wrote  me  a  letter,  asking  me 
for  the  names  of  all  the  poor  ones  and  asking  me  to 
name  something  they  needed.  I  did,  and  all  got  some 
thing  useful.  Such  men  are  worthy  to  be  stewards  of 
God's  treasury. 

For  years  I  made  it  my  duty,  every  fall,  to  go  from 
house  to  house  to  gather  clothes  for  the  poor  families, 
wash  women  and  others  who  had  not  time  to  sew  for 
their  children.  I  never  allowed  a  child  to  stay  out  of 
day  or  Sunday  school,  for  want  of  clothes.  I  would 
sort  out  these  clothes  and  distribute  them  as  needed. 
Persons  would  say,  "I  am  afraid  I  would  make  peo 
ple  angry."  I  said  if  any  one  feels  that  way  I  will 
say :  "You  are  not  the  one  I  am  sent  to."  I  never  hurt 
anyone's  feelings  by  offering  them  these  things. 

There  was  a  family  by  the  name  of  French  who  came 
into  a  neighborhood  about  three  miles  from  town.  I 
heard  they  were  destitute.  I  filled  my  buggy  and  went 
there  and  found  they  were  sadly  in  need.  1  brought 
the  things  in  just  such  as  was  needed.  The  family  was 
large.  The  woman  cried  as  if  her  heart  would  break, 
she  could  not  thank  me  enough.  It  takes  so  little  to 
make  some  people  happy. 

I  read  of  a  miserable  miser  once  who  was  on  the 
verge  of  suicide  by  the  side  of  a  river.  A  little  girl 
came  to  him  saying :  "Please  sir,  my  mother  is  sick  and 
hungry.  Please  give  me  something  so  I  can  get  her 
something  to  eat."  The  man  said  within  himself:  "I 
will  do  this  for  the  child  before  I  die."  He  went  to 
a  bakershop  and  got  her  a  full  basket.  Then  she  look 
ed  so  weak  he  carried  it  home  to  her  mother.  The 
poor  woman  on  the  pallet  of  straw,  kissed  his  hands 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.  NATION.  125 

and  blessed  him.  He  thought  of  the  money  he  might 
use  to  make  people  happy.  He  concluded  he  would 
use  it  before  he  died  for  he  had  enjoyed  for  the  first 
time  in  his  life  the  peace  that  comes  from  giving. 
After  this  his  life  was  a  blessing  to  himself  and  others. 
He  had  found  the  best  use  of  life. 

I  once  read  a  beautiful  story  of  one  of  the  early 
fathers  of  the  church.  He  gave  away  everything  even 
to  sufficient  clothes  to  keep  himself  warm.  A  rich  kind 
hearted  woman  made  him  a  coat  of  fur  very  expensive. 
Next  time  she  saw  him  he  did  not  have  it.  "Where 
is  that  coat  father?"  she  asked.  He  replied:  "I  thought 
so  much  of  it  I  laid  it  up  in  heaven.  Where  moth  and 
rust  doth  not  corrupt  and  where  thieves  do  not  break 
through  and  steal."  (Matt.  6:19.)  He  had  given  it 
to  the  first  shivering  man  he  met. 


CHAPTER.  VIII. 

THE  DIVINE  CALL. THE  JOINT   DRUGGIST  OF   MEDICINE 

LODGE. BEER  A  POISON. DOCTORS  MAKE  DRUNK 
ARDS. SMASHING  AT  KIOWA. ATTITUDE  OF  SOME 

W.     C.     T.     U/S     OF     KANSAS. SUIT     FOR     SLANDER. 

SMASHING  AT  WICHITA.— CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  REPUB 
LICANS  TO  PUT  ME  IN  THE  INSANE  ASYLUM. SUF 
FERING  IN  JAIL  AT  WICHITA. SLANDERS  FROM  THE 

RUM-BOUGHT  PAPERS  OF  KANSAS. 

At  the  time  these  dives  were  open,  contrary  to  the 
statutes  of  our  state,  the  officers  were  really  in  league 
with  this  lawless  element.  I  was  heavily  burdened  and 
could  see  "the  wicked  walking  on  every  side,  and  the 
vilest  men  exalted."  (Ps.  12:8.)  I  was  ridiculed,  was 
called  "meddler,"  "crazy,"  was  pointed  to  as  a  fanatic. 
I  spent  much  time  in  tears,  prayer  and  fasting.  I  would 
fast  days  at  a  time.  One  day  I  was  so  sad ;  I  opened 
the  Bible  with  a  prayer  for  light,  and  saw  these  words : 
"Arise,  shine,  for  thy  light  is  come  and  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  is  risen  upon  thee."  (Isa.  60:1.)  These 
words  gave  me  unbounded  delight. 

I  ran  to  a  sister  and  said:  "There  is  to  be  a  change 
in  my  life." 

As  Jail  Evangelist  for  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  Medicine 
Lodge,  I  would  ask  the  men  in  prison,  young  and  old, 
why  are  you  here?  The  answer  was,  it  was  "drink," 
"drink."  I  said,  why  do  you  get  drunk  in  Kansas 
where  we  have  no  saloons?  They  told  me  that  they 
got  their  drink  in  Kiowa.  This  town  was  in  Barber 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  127 

county,  a  county  right  on  the  border  of  Oklahoma.  I 
went  to  Mr.  Sam  Griffen,  the  County  Attorney,  time 
after  time,  telling  him  of  these  men  being  in  jail  from 
drink.  He  would  put  the  matter  off  and  seem  very 
much  annoyed  because  I  asked  him  to  do  what  he 
swore  he  would  do,  for  he  was  oath  bound  to  get  out 
a  warrant  and  put  this  in  the  hands  of  the  sheriff  who 
was  oath  bound  to  arrest  these  dive-keepers,  and  put 
them  in  jail  and  the  place  or  dive  was  to  be  publicly 
abated  or  destroyed.  Mr.  Griffen  was  determined  that 
these  dive-keepers  should  not  be  arrested.  I  even  went 
down  to  Kiowa  myself  and  went  into  these  places  and 
came  back  asking  this  County  Attorney  to  take  my 
evidence  and  he  would  not  do  it.  Then  I  wrote  to  Mr. 
A.  A.  Godard  of  Topeka,  the  State's  Attorney,  whose 
duty  it  was  to  see  that  all  the  County  Attorneys  did 
their  duties.  I  saw  he  did  not  intend  to  do  anything, 
then  I  went  to  William  Stanley  the  Governor  at  To 
peka.  "  I  told  him  of  the  prisoners  in  jail  in  our  county 
from  the  sale  of  liquor  in  the  dives  of  Kiowa,  told  him 
of  the  broken  families  and  trouble  of  all  kinds  in  the 
county,  told  him  of  two  murders  that  had  been  com 
mitted  in  the  county,  one  alone  costing  the  tax  payers 
$8,000.00,  told  him  of  the  broken  hearted  women  and 
the  worse  than  fatherless  children  as  the  result.  I 
found  out  that  he  would  not  do  his  duty.  I  had  gone 
from  the  lowest  to  the  chief-executive  of  the  state,  and 
after  appealing  to  the  governor  in  vain  I  found  that 
I  could  go  to  no  other  authority  on  earth. 

Now  I  saw  that  Kansas  was  in  the  power  of  the  bit 
ter  foe  to  the  constitution,  and  that  they  had  accomp 
lished  what  the  whiskey  men  and  their  tools,  the  Re- 


128  THE  USE  AND   NEED  OF 

publican  party  and  politicians  had  schemed  and  work 
ed  for.  When  two  thirds  of  the  voters  of  Kansas  said 
at  the  ballot  box — about  1880,  I  think  it  was — "We 
will  not  have  a  saloon  in  our  state."  This  was  made 
constitutional  by  the  two- thirds  majority.  Nothing 
could  change  this  or  take  it  out  of  the  constitution  ex 
cept  by  having  the  amendment  re-submitted  and  two- 
thirds  of  the  people  voting  to  bring  the  saloons  back. 
They  intended  then  with  their  bribes  and  otherwise 
to  buy  votes.  The  first  act  was  to  organize  the  state 
into  what  they  called  the  "Mystic  Order  of  Brother 
hood."  Of  course  this  was  kept  very  quiet  and  few 
of  the  people  in  the  towns  knew  of  this  order  and  or 
ganization.  When  the  Devil  wants  to  carry  out  his 
deepest  plots  he  must  do,  through  a  secret  order;  what 
he  cannot  otherwise  do.  He  does  his  work  through, 
by,  and  in,  the  kingdom  of  darkness.  For  this  one 
reason  he  must  hoodwink  the  people  to  make  them  his 
tools. 

jt  God  has  given  me  a  mean  fight,  a  dirty  and  danger 
ous  fight;  for  it  is  a  war  on  the  hidden  things  of 
darkness.  I  am,  in  this  book  throwing  all  the  light 
I  can  on  the  dangerous  foe  to  liberty,  free  speech  and 
Christianity,  the  Masonic  Lodge,  which  is  the  father 
of  all  the  other  secret  orders.  Through  this  Mystic 
Order  of  Brotherhood  managing  the  primaries  and 
elections,  they  got  into  office  from  constable  up  to  the 
governor,  the  tools  of  the  liquor  power.  The  great 
question  that  was  then  discussed  was  "re-submission." 
Every  representative  to  congress  at  Topeka  was 
in  favor  of  the  re-submission  without  an  excep 
tion/  Money  was  sent  into  Kansas  by  the  thousands 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  129 

from  brewers  and  distillers  to  be  used  by  politicians 
for  the  purpose  of  bringing  about  re-submission.  Kan 
sas  was  the  storm  center.  If  the  liquor  men  could 
bring  back  saloons  into  Kansas  then  a  great  blow 
would  be  struck  against  prohibition  in  all  the  states. 
This  would  discourage  the  people  all  over.  Their  great 
word  was,  "you  can't,"  "prohibition  will  not  prohibit." 
I  do  not  belong  to  the  "can't"  family.  When  I  was 
born  my  father  wrote  my  name  Carry  A.  Moore,  then 
later  it  was  Nation,  which  is  more  still.  C.  A.  N.  are 
the  initials  of  my  name,  then  C.  (see)  A.  Nation!  And 
all  together  Carry  A.  Nation !  This  is  no  accident  but 
Providence.  This  does  not  mean  that  I  will  carry  a 
nation,  but  that  the  roused  heart  and  conscience  will, 
as  I  am  the  roused  heart  and  conscience  of  the  people 
in  operation.  There  are  just  two  crowds,  God's  crowd 
and  the  Devil's  crowd.  One  gains  the  battle  by  can, 
and  the  other  loses  it  by  can't. 

My  Christian  experience  will  give  you  the  secret  of 
my  life.  It  is  God  indwelling.  When  I  found  I  could 
effect  nothing  through  the  officials,  I  was  sad,  indeed. 
I  saw  that  Kansas  homes,  hearts  and  souls  were  to  be 
sacrificed.  I  had  lost  all  the  hopes  of  my  young  life 
through  drink,  I  saw  the  terrible  results  that  would 
befall  others.  I  felt  that  I  had  rather  die  than  see  the 
saloons  come  back  into  Kansas.  I  felt  desperate.  I 
took  this  to  God  daily,  feeling  that  He  only,  could  res 
cue.  On  the  5th  of  June,  1899,  before  retiring,  I  threw 
myself  face  downward  at  the  foot  of  my  bed  in  my 
home  in  Medicine  Lodge.  I  poured  out  my  grief  and 
agony  to  God,  in  about  this  strain :  "Oh  Lord  you  see 
the  treason  in  Kansas,  they  are  going  to  break  the 


130  THE  USE  AND  NEED  OF 

mothers'  hearts,  they  are  going  to  send  the  boys  to 
drunkards'  graves  and  a  drunkard's  hell.  I  have  ex 
hausted  all  my  means.  Oh  Lord,  you  have  plenty  of 
ways.  You  have  used  the  base  things  and  the  weak 
things,  use  me  to  save  Kansas.  I  have  but  one  life  to 
give  you,  if  T  had  a  thousand,  I  would  give  them  all, 
please  show  me  something  to  do."  The  next  morning 
I  was  awakened  by  a  voice  which  seemed  to  be  speak 
ing  in  my  heart,  these  words,  "GO  TO  KIOWA,"  and 
my  hands  were  lifted  and  thrown  down  and  the  words, 
"I'LL  STAND'BY  YOU."  The  words,  "Go  to 
Kiowa,'  were  spoken  in  a  murmuring,  musical  tone, 
low  and  soft,  but,  "I'll  stand  by  you,"  was  very  clear, 
positive  and  emphatic.  I  was  impressed  with  a  great 
inspiration,  the  interpretation  was  very  plain,  it  was 
this :  "Take  something  in  your  hands,  and  throw  at 
these  places  in  Kiowa  and  smash  them."  I  was  very 
much  relieved  and  overjoyed  and  was  determined  to 
be,  "obedient  to  the  heavenly  vision."  (Acts  26  :19.)  I 
told  no  one  what  I  heard  or  what  I  intended  to  do. 
Note  this  reader,  that  I  did  not  think  of  smashing,  God 
told  me  to  do  it.  I  was  a  busy  home  keeper,  did  all  my 
house  work,  was  superintendent  of  two  Sunday 
schools,  one  in  the  country,  was  jail  evangelist,  and 
president  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  kept  open  house  for 
all  of  God's  people,  where  all  the  Christian  workers 
were  welcome  to  abide  at  my  house.  When  no  one  was 
looking  I  walked  out  into  the  yard  and  picked  up  brick 
bats  and  rocks,  and  hid  them  under  my  kitchen  apron, 
took  them  in  my  room,  wrapped  them  in  newspapers. 
I  did  this  until  I  got  quite  a  lot.  A  very  sneaking 
degenerate  druggist  in  Medicine  Lodge  named  South- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  131 

worth,  had  for  years  been  selling  intoxicating  liquors 
on  the  sly.  I  had  gotten  in  his  drug  store  four  bottles 
of  Schlitz  Malt.  I  was  going  to  use  them  as  evidence 
to  convict  this  wiley  dive  keeper. 

One  of  the  bottles  I  took  to  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  meeting 
and  in  the  presence  of  the  ladies  I  opened  it  and  drank 
the  contents.  Then  I  had  two  of  them  take  me 
down  to  a  Doctor's  office.  I  fell  limp  on  the  sofa  and 
said:  "Doctor,  what  is  the  matter  with  me?" 

He  looked  at  my  eyes,  felt  my  heart  and  pulse,  shook 
his  head  and  looked  grave. 

1  said:  "Am  I  poisoned?"    "Yes,  said  the  Doctor." 

I  said :  "What  poisoned  me  is  that  beer  you  recom 
mended  Bro. to  take  as  a  tonic."  I  resorted 

to  this  stratagem,  to  show  the  effect  that  beer  has  upon 
the  system.  This  Doctor  was  a  kind  man  and  meant 
well,  but  it  must  have  been  ignorance  that  made  him 
say  beer  could  ever  be  used  as  a  medicine. 

There  was  another,  Dr.  Kocile,  in  Medicine  Lodge 
who  used  to  sell  all  the  whiskey  he  could.  He  made 
a  drunkard  of  a  very  prominent  woman  of  the  town, 
who  took  the  Keeley  cure.  She  told  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
of  the  villainy  of  this  doctor  and  she  could  not  have 
hated  any  one  more  Oh!  the  drunkards  the  doctors 
are  making  !  No  physician,  who  is  worthy  of  the  name 
will  prescribe  it  as  a  medicine,  for  there  is  not  one 
medical  quality  in  alcohol.  It  kills  the  living  and  pre 
serves  the  dead.  Never  preserves  anything  but  death. 
It  is  made  by  a  rotting  process  and  it  rots  the  brain, 
body  and  soul ;  it  paralyzes  the  vascular  circulation  and 
increases  the  action  of  the  heart.  This  is  friction  and 


132  THE   USE    AND   NEED  OF 

friction  in  any  machinery  is  dangerous,  and  the  cure 
is  not  hastened  but  delayed. 

Any  physician  that  will  prescribe  whiskey  or  alcohol 
as  a  medicine  is  either  a  fool  or  a  knave.  A  fool  be 
cause  he  does  not  understand  his  business,  for  even 
saying"  that  alcohol  does  arouse  the  action  of  the  heart, 
there  are  medicines  that  will  do  that  and  will  not  pro 
duce  the  fatal  results  of  alcoholism,  which  is  the  worst 
of  all  diseases.  He  is  a  knave  because  his  practice  is 
a  matter  of  getting  a  case,  and  a  fee  at  the  same  time, 
like  a  machine  agent  who  breaks  the  machine  to  get 
the  job  of  mending  it.  Alcohol  destroys  the  normal 
condition  of  all  the  functions  of  the  body.  The  stom 
ach  is  thrown  out  of  fix,  and  the  patient  goes  to  the 
doctor  for  a  stomach  pill,  the  heart,  liver,  kidneys,  and 
in  fact,  the  whole  body  is  in  a  deranged  condition,  and 
the  doctor  has  a  perpetual  patient.  I  sincerely  believe 
this  to  be  the  reason  why  many  physicians  prescribe  it. 

At  half  past  three  that  day  I  was  ready  to  start, 
hitched  up  the  horse  to  the  buggy,  drove  out  of  the 
stable,  down  a  hill  and  over  a  bridge  that  was  just  out 
side  the  limits  of  Medicine  Lodge.  I  saw  in  the  mid 
dle  of  the  road  perhaps  a  dozen  or  so  creatures  in  the 
forms  of  men  leaning  towards  the  buggy  as  if  against 
a  rope  which  prevented  them  from  coming  nearer. 
Their  faces  were  those  of  demons  and  the  gestures  of 
their  hands  as  if  they  would  tear  me  up.  I  did  not 
know  what  to  do,  but  I  lifted  my  hands,  and  my  eyes 
to  God,  saying:  "Oh !  Lord,  help  me,  help  me."  When 
I  looked  down  these  diabolical  creatures  were  not  in 
front  of  the"  buggy,  but  they  were  off  to  the  right  flee 
ing  as  if  they  were  terrified.  I  did  not  know  or  think 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  133 

what  this  meant.  My  life  was  so  full  of  strange,  pe 
culiar  things  at  that  time  that  I  could  not  understand 
the  meaning.  Not  for  years  did  I  interpret  the  mean 
ing  of  this  vision.  I  know  now  what  those  creatures 
were.  They  were  real  devils  that  knew  more  of  what 
I  was  going  to  do  than  I  did.  The  devil  is  a  prophet, 
he  reads  scripture,  he  knew  Jesus  when  He  was  here, 
and  he  knew  that  I  came  to  fulfill  prophecy,  and  that 
this  was  a  death  blow  to  his  kingdom. 

The  peoples'  consciences  were  asleep  while  these 
dreadful  burglars  of  saloons  were  robbing  the  homes 
and  God  had  to  shock  them  to  rouse  them  up.  God 
cannot  work  with  a  people  whose  conscience  is  dead. 
The  devil  cannot  continue  with  an  awakened  con 
science.  I  expected  to  stay  all  night  with  a  dear  friend, 
Sister  Springer,  wrho  lived  about  half  way  to  Kiowa. 
When  I  arrived  near  her  home  the  sun  was  almost 
down,  but  I  was  very  eager  to  go  to  Kiowa  and  I  said: 
"Oh,  Lord,  if  it  is  Thy  will  for  me  to  go  to  Kiowa  to 
night,  have  Prince,  (my  horse,)  pass  this  open  gate," 
which  I  knew  he  would  never  do  unless  God  ordered 
it.  I  gave  him  the  reins  and  when  I  got  opposite  the 
open  gate  my  horse  jumped  forward  as  if  some  one  had 
struck  him  a  blow.  I  got  to  Kiowa  at  half  past  eight, 
stayed  all  night.  Next  morning  I  had  my  horse  hitch 
ed  and  drove  to  the  first  dive  kept  by  a  Mr.  Dobson, 
whose  brother  was  then  sheriff  of  the  county.  I  stack 
ed  up  these  smashers  on  my  left  arm,  all  I  could  hold. 
They  looked  like  packages  wrapped  in  paper.  I  stood 
before  the  counter  and  said :  "Mr.  Dobson,  I  told  you 
last  spring  to  close  this  place,  you  did  not  do  it,  now 
I  have  come  down  with  another  remonstrance,  get  out 


134  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

of  the  way,  I  do  not  want  to  strike  you,  but  I  am  going 
to  break  this  place  up."  I  threw  as  hard,  and  as  fast 
as  I  could,  smashing  mirrors  and  bottles  and  glasses 
and  it  was  astonishing  how  quickly  this  was  done. 
These  men  seemed  terrified,  threw  up  their  hands  and 
backed  up  in  the  corner.  My  strength  was  that  of  a 
giant.  I  felt  invincible.  God  was  certainly  standing 
by  me. 

I  will  tell  you  of  a  very  strange  thing.  As  the  stones 
were  flying  against  this  "wonderful  and  horrible" 
thing,  I  saw  Mr.  McKinley,  the  President,  sitting  in 
an  old  fashion  arm  chair  and  as  the  stones  would  strike 
I  saw  them  hit  the  chair  and  the  chair  fell  to  pieces, 
and  I  saw  Mr.  McKinley  fall  over.  I  did  not  under 
stand  this  until  very  recently,  now  I  know  that  the 
smashing  in  Kansas  was  intended  to  strike  the  head  of 
this  nation  the  hardest  blow,  for  every  saloon  I  smash 
ed  in  Kansas  had  a  license  from  the  head  of  this  gov 
ernment  which  made  the  head  of  the  government  more 
responsible  than  the  dive-keeper.  I  broke  up  three  of 
these  dives  that  day,  broke  the  windows  on  the  out 
side  to  prove  that  the  man  who  rents  his  house  is  a 
partner  also  with  the  man  who  sells.  The  party  who 
licenses  and  the  paper  that  advertises,  all  have  a  hand 
in  this  and  are  particeps  criminis.  I  smashed  five  sa 
loons  with  rocks,  before  1  ever  took  a  hatchet. 

In  the  last  place,  kept  by  Lewis,  there  was  quite  a 
young  man  behind  the  bar.  I  said  to  him:  "Young 
man,  come  from  behind  that  bar,  your  mother  did  not 
raise  you  for  such  a  place."  I  threw  a  brick  at  the 
mirror,  which  was  a  very  heavy  one,  and  it  did  not 
break,  but  the  brick  fell  and  broke  everything  in  its 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  135 

way.  I  began  to  look  around  for  something  that  would 
break  it.  I  was  standing  by  a  billiard  table  on  which 
there  was  one  ball.  I  said :  "Thank  God,"  and  picked 
it  up,  threw  it,  and  it  made  a  hole  in  the  mirror. 

By  this  time,  the  streets  were  crowded  with  people ; 
most  of  them  seemed  to  look  puzzled.  There  was  one 
boy  about  fifteen  years  old  who  seemed  perfectly  wild 
with  joy,  and  he  jumped,  skipped  and  yelled  with  de 
light.  I  have  since  thought  of  that  as  being  a  signifi 
cant  sign.  For  to  smash  saloons  will  save  the  boy. 

I  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  street  and  spoke  in  this 
way :  "I  have  destroyed  three  of  your  places  of  busi 
ness,  and  if  I  have  broken  a  statute  of  Kansas,  put  me 
in  jail ;  if  I  am  not  a  law-breaker  your  mayor  and  coun- 
cilmen  are.  You  must  arrest  one  of  us,  for  if  I  am  not 
a  criminal,  they  are." 

One  of  the  councilmen,  who  was  a  butcher,  said: 
''Don't  you  think  we  can  attend  to  our  business.". 

"Yes,"  I  said,  "You  can,  but  you  won't.  As  Jail 
Evangelist  of  Medicine  Lodge,  I  know  you  have  manu 
factured  many  criminals  and  this  county  is  burdened 
down  with  taxes  to  prosecute  the  results  of  these  dives. 
Two  murders  have  been  committed  in  the  last  five 
years  in  this  county,  one  in  a  dive  I  have  just  destroy 
ed.  You  are  a  butcher  of  hogs  and  cattle,  but  they 
are  butchering  men,  women  and  children,  positively 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  God  and  man,  and  the  mayor 
and  councilmen  are  more  to  blame  than  the  jointist, 
and  now  if  I  have  done  wrong  in  any  particular  arrest 
me."  When  I  was  through  with  my  speech  I  got  into 
my  buggy  and  said :  "I'll  go  home." 


136  THE    USE   AND    NEED   OF 

The  marshal  held  my  horse  and  said :  "Not  yet ;  the 
mayor  wishes  to  see  you." 

I  drove  up  to  where  he  was,  and  the  man  who  owned 
one  of  the  dive  buildings  I  had  smashed  was  standing 
by  Dr.  Korn,  the  mayor,  and  said:  "I  want  you  to  pay 
for  the  front  windows  you  broke  of  my  building." 

I  said :  "No,  you  are  a  partner  of  the  dive-keeper  and 
the  statutes  hold  your  building  responsible.  The  man 
that  rents  the  building  for  any  business  is  no  better 
than  the  man  who  carries  on  the  business,  and  you  are 
party  to  the  crime."  They  ran  back  and  forward  to 
the  city  attorney  several  times.  At  last  they  came  and 
told  me  I  could  go.  As  I  drove  through  the  streets 
the  reins  fell  out  of  my  hands  and  I,  standing  up  in 
my  buggy;  lifted  my  hands  twice,  saying:  "Peace  on 
earth,  good  will  to  men."  This  action  I  know  was 
done  through  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
"Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men,"  being  the  result 
of  the  destruction  of  saloons  and  the  motive  for  de 
stroying  them. 

When  '1  reached  Medicine  Lodge  the  town  was  in 
quite  an  excitement,  the  news  having  been  telegraphed 
ahead.  I  drove  through  the  streets  and  told  the  peo 
ple  I  would  be  at  the  postoffie  corner  to  tell  them  of 
my  work  in  the  jail  here,  and  the  young  men's  lives 
that  had  been  ruined,  and  the  broken  hearted  mothers, 
the  taxation  that  had  been  brought  on  the  county,  and 
other  wrongs  of  the  dives  of  Kiowa ;  of  how  I  had 
been  to  the  sheriff,  Mr.  Gano,  and  the  prosecuting  at 
torney,  Mr.  Griffin  ;  how  I  had  written  to  the  state's 
attorney  general,  Mr.  Goddard,  and  I  saw  there  was 
a  conspiracy  with  the  party  in  power  to  violate  their 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  137 

oaths,  and  refuse  to  enforce  the  constitution  of  Kan 
sas,  and  I  did  only  what  they  swore  they  would  do. 
I  had  a  letter  from  a  Mr.  Long,  of  Kiowa,  saying  that 
Mr.  Griffin,  the  prosecuting  attorney,  was  taking 
bribes,  and  that  he  and  the  sheriff  were  drinking  and 
gambling  in  the  dives  at  Kiowa. 

This  smashing  aroused  the  people  of  the  county  to 
this  outrage  and  these  dive-keepers  were  arrested,  al 
though  we  did  not  ask  the  prosecuting  attorney  to  get 
out  a  warrant,  or  sheriff  to  make  an  arrest.  Neither 
did  we  take  the  case  before  any  justice  of  the  peace  in 
Kiowa  or  Medicine  Lodge,  for  they  belong  to  the  re 
publican  party  and  would  prevent  the  prosecution. 
The  cases  were  taken  out  in  the  country  several  miles 
from  Kiowa  before  Moses  E.  Wright,  a  Free  Meth 
odist  and  a  justice  of  the  peace  of  Moore  township. 

The  men  were  found  guilty,  and  for  the  first  time 
in  the  history  of  Barber  county,  all  dives  were  closed. 
Of  course  it  took  two  or  three  months  to  accomplish 
this  and  not  a  word  was  said  about  suing  me  for  slan 
der,  until  after  the  dives  were  closed.  Then  I  began 
to  hear  that  Sam  Griffin  was  going  to  sue  me  for  slan 
der,  because  I  said  he  took  bribes.  The  papers  were 
served  on  me,  but  I  was  not  at  all  alarmed,  for  I 
thought  it  would  give  me  an  opportunity  to  bring  out 
the  facts  of  the  case.  I  knew  little  about  the  tricks  of 
lawyers,  and  the  unfair  ruling  of  judges. 

I  will  here  speak  of  the  attitude  of  some  of  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.  concerning  the  smashing.  Most  of  this  grand 
body  of  women  endorsed  me  from  the  first.  A  few 
weeks  after  the  Kiowa  raid,  I  held  a  convention  in 
Medicine  Lodge.  I  got  letters  from  various  W.  C.  T. 


138  THE   USE  AND    NEED  OF 

U.  workers  of  the  state,  that  they  would  hold  my  con 
vention  for  me.  I  said :  "No,  I  will  hold  my  own  con 
vention." 

Up  to  this  time,  no  one  had  ever  offered  to  hold  my 
convention,  and  I  fully  understood,  that  the  W.  C.  T. 
U.  did  not  want  it  to  go  out  that  they  endorsed  me  in 
my  work  at  Kiowa.  The  state  president  came  to  my 
home  the  first  day  of  the  convention.  I  believe  this 
was  done,  thinking  I  would  ask  her  to  preside  at  the 
meeting,  or  convention.  I  was  glad  to  see  her  and 
asked  her  to  conduct  a  parliamentary  drill.  She  came 
to  me  privately  and  asked  me  to  state  to  the  conven 
tion  that  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  knew  nothing  about  the 
smashing  at  Kiowa  and  was  not  responsible  for  this 
act  of  mine.  I  did  so,  saying  the  "honor  of  smashing 
the  saloons  at  Kiowa  would  have  to  be  ascribed  to  me 
alone,  as  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  did  not  wish  any  of  it.'  So 
far  as  Sister  Hutchinson,  who  is,  and  has  been  the 
president  for  some  time,  is  concerned,  I  believe  her  to 
be  a  conscientious  woman,  and  whose  heart  is  in  the 
right  place.  She  and  I  have  been  the  best  of  friends 
and  love  each  other,  and  she  has  often  defended  me 
and  spoken  well  of  my  work.  But  I  think  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.  would  be  much  more  effective  under  her  manage 
ment,  if  she  had  understood  that  Stanley,  the  republi 
can  governor,  wished  to  handicap  her  in  her  prohibi 
tion  work  when  he  appointed  her  husband  as  physician 
in  the  reformatory  at  Hutchinson,  Kansas.  Be  it  said 
to  the  credit  of  this  Christian  physician  he  never  used 
alcohol  in  his  practice.  And  perhaps  other  bearings 
have  prevented  her  from  seeing  that  the  republican 
pressure  has  injured  our  work  more  than  anything  else 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  139 

in  Kansas.  Many  of  the  wives  of  these  political  wire 
pullers  are  prominent  in  the  Union.  A.  W.  C.  T.  U. 
must  of  necessity  be  a  prohibitionist,  for  her  pledge  is 
a  prohibition  pledge,  not  a  temperance  one. 

The  Free  Methodists  although  few  in  number,  and 
considered  a  church  of  but  small  influence,  have  been 
a  great  power  in  reform.  They  were  the  abolitionists 
of  negro  slavery  to  a  man,  and  now  they  are  the  aboli 
tionists  of  the  liquor  curse.  They  were  also  my  friends 
in  this  smashing.  Father  Wright  and  Bro.  Atwood 
were  at  the  convention  I  speak  of.  Father  Wright, 
who  has  been  an  old  soldier  for  the  defence  of  Truth 
for  many  years  said  to  me:  "Never  mind,  Sister  Na 
tion,  when  they  see  the  way  the  cat  jumps,  you  will 
have  plenty  of  friends."  The  ministers  were  also  my 
friends  and  approved  of  the  smashing.  Bro.  McClain, 
of  the  Christian  church,  was  at  the  convention,  and  he 
was  trying  to  apologize  for  the  smashing  and  defend 
me  at  the  same  time,  he  said:  "We  all  make  mistakes 
and  crooked  paths,  and  Sister  Nation  we  all  know, 
tries  to  do  right,  and  even  if  she  did  some  crooked 
things,  all  the  rest  of  us  do  the  same  thing." 

I  appreciated  his  motive,  but  for  the  sake  of  others, 
I  replied:  "I  could  not  see  that  the  term  'crooked' 
should  be  used.  I  rolled  up  the  rocks  as  straight  as  I 
could,  I  placed  them  straight  in  the  box,  hitched  up  my 
horse  straight,  drove  straight  to  Kiowa,  walked 
straight  in  the  saloon,  threw  straight,  and  broke  them 
up  in  the  sir  (lightest  manner,  drove  home  straight,  and 
T  did  hot  make  a  crooked  step  in  smashing."  This  of 
course  was  pleasantry,  but  it  was  the  way  I  took  to 


140  THE   USE   AND    NEED  OF 

justify  myself,  as  but  few  seemed  to  see  the  merit  or 
result  of  this  crusade. 

I  never  explained  to  the  people  that  God  told  me  to 
do  this  for  some  months,  for  I  tried  to  shield  myself 
from  the  almost  universal  opinion  that  I  was  partially 
insane. 

I  will  now  speak  of  my  persecution  for  so-called 
slandering  the  prosecuting  attorney.  As  I  said,  no 
one  mentioned  such  a  thing  until  the  dives  were  closed. 
Closing  the  joints,  called  attention  to  the  perjury  of 
the  county  officials,  for  it  was  proven  to  be  their  fault, 
that  we  have  dives  in  Kansas.  In  order  to  direct  the 
attention  from  themselves,  as  perjurers,  and  to  me,  and 
to  be  avenged,  they  put  their  heads  together  to  bring 
this  suit  against  me.  Mr.  Griffin  was  no  more  to  blame 
in  this  matter  than  the  rest  of  the  republicans.  A.  L. 
Noble,  Polly  Tincher,  Ed.  Sample  and  Mr.  Herr,  the 
c-ity  attorney  of  Kiowa,  were  all  employed  by  Sam 
Griffin.  This  practically  took  all  the  legal  ability,  leav 
ing  one,  G.  A.  Martin,  whom  I  retained.  I  had  wit 
nesses  enough  to  prove  gambling  and  drinking  in  these 
dives  by  Mr.  Griffin  and  the  sheriff;  had  sufficient 
testimony  to  justify  me  in  saying  what  I  did.  The 
republican  judge  of  Kingman,  Gillette,  ruled  out  my 
testimony  right  through.  If  my  case  had  been  con 
ducted  properly  by  my  lawyer,  and  proper  exceptions 
taken,  I  could  have  taken  the  case  to  the  supreme 
court,  and  Had  it  reversed  on  several  rulings.  Judge 
Stevens  and  Judge  Lacey,  who  were  at  the  trial,  told 
me  they  never  saw  such  determination  on  the  part  of 
any  judge  to  cut  out  the  defense  as  the  rulings  of 
Judge  Gillette.  It  was  evident  that  everything  was 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  141 

cut  and  dried  before  going  into  court.  Judge  Gillette 
had  several  pages  of  instructions  to  the  jury,  telling 
them  their  duty  was  to  convict  and  that  the  damages 
should  be  a  large  sum.  I  had  these  instructions  ex 
amined  by  a  good  lawyer,  Mr.  Duminel,  of  Topeka, 
and  he  said  the  judge  overleaped  his  prerogative.  He 
should  have  told  the  jury  the  facts  and  the  statute  gov 
erning  slander,  but  his  instructions  were  an  appeal  and 
command  to  convict  me.  This  Judge  Gillette  has  a 
reputation  for  being  a  respectable  citizen,  but  his  zeal 
to  save  from  disgrace  his  republican  colleagues  led 
him  to  thus  persecute  a  loyal  woman  Home  Defender 
of  Kansas,  and  protect  the  rum  defenders,  and  republi 
can  schemers,  who  have  done  more  to  injure  prohibi 
tion  in  Kansas  than  any  other  party.  If  a  democrat 
wanted  to  carry  on  a  dive,  republicans  would  grant 
him  the  permit  to  do  so. 

The  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  guilty;  but  the 
damages  to  the  character  of  this  republican  county  at 
torney  was  one  dollar,  and  of  course  I  sent  him  the 
dollar,  but  the  cost  which  was,  including  all,  about  two 
hundred  dollars  was  assessed  to  me  and  a  judgment 
put  on  a  piece  of  property,  which  I  paid  off,  by  the  sale 
of  my  little  hatchets,  and  lectures.  Strange  these  trials 
never  caused  me  to  become  discouraged,  rather  the 
reverse.  I  knew  I  was  right,  and  God  in  his  own  time 
would  come  to  my  help.  The  more  injustice  I  suffer 
ed,  the  more  cause  I  had  to  resent  the  wrongs.  I  al 
ways  felt  that  I  was  keeping  others  out  of  trouble, 
when  I  was  in.  I  had  resolved  that  at  the  first  op 
portunity  I  would  go  to  Wichita  and  break  up  some 
vof  the  bold  outlawed  murder-mills  there.  I  thought 


142  THE   USE   AND    NEED  OF 

perhaps  it  was  God's  will  to  make  me  a  sacrifice  as  he 
did  John  Brown,  and  I  knew  this  was  a  defiance  of  the 
national  intrigue  of  both  republican  and  democratic 
parties,  when  I  destroyed  this  malicious  property, 
which  afforded  them  a  means  of  enslaving  the  people, 
taxing  them  to  gather  a  revenue  they  could  squander, 
and  giving  them  political  jobs,  thus  creating  a  force  to 
manage  the  interest  and  take  care  of  the  results  of  a 
business  where  the  advantage  was  in  the  graft  it  gave 
to  them  and  the  brewers  and  distillers. 

In  two  weeks  from  the  close  of  this  trial,  on  the  27th 
of  December,  1900,  I  went  to  Wichita,  almost  seven 
months  after  the  raid  in  Kiowa.  Mr.  Nation  went  to 
see  his  brother,  Mr.  Seth  Nation,  in  eastern  Kansas, 
and  I  was  free  to  leave  home.  Monday  was  the  26th, 
the  day  I  started.  The  Sunday  before,  the  25th,  I 
went  to  the  Baptist  Sunday  school,  then  to  the  Presby 
terian  for  preaching,  and  at  the  close  walked  over  to 
the  Methodist  church  for  class  meeting.  I  could  not 
keep  from  weeping,  but  I  controlled  myself  the  best 
I  could.  I  did  not  know  but  that  it  would  be  the  last 
time  I  would  ever  see  my  dear  friends  again,  and  could 
not  tell  them  why.  I  gave  my  testimony  at  the  class 
meeting;  spoke  particularly  to  members  of  the  choir 
about  their  extravagant  dress ;  told  them  that  a  poor 
sinner  coming  there  for  relief  would  be  driven  away, 
to  see  such  a  vanity  fair  in  front.  I  begged  them  to 
dress  neither  in  gold,  silver  or  costly  array,  and  spoke 
of  the  sin  of  wearing  the  corpses  of  dead  birds  and 
plumage  of  birds,  and  closed  by  saying:  "These  may 
be  my  dying  words."  At  the  close  Sister  Shell,  a  W. 
C.  T.  U.  said  to  me :  "What  do  you  mean  by  'my  dying 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  143 

words?'  for  you  never  looked  better  in  your  life."  I 
said :  "You  will  know  later." 

I  took  a  valise  with  me,  and  in  that  valise  I  put  a 
rod  of  iron,  perhaps  a  foot  long,  and  as  large  around 
as  my  thumb.  I  also  took  a  cane  with  me.  I  found 
out  by  smashing  in  Kiowa  that  I  could  use  a  rock  but 
once,  so  I  took  the  cane  with  me.  I  got  down  to  Wich 
ita  about  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  that  day,  and 
went  to  the  hotel  near  the  Santa  Fe  depot  and  left  my 
valise.  I  went  up  town  to  select  the  place  I  would 
begin  at  first.  I  went  into  about  fourteen  places,  where 
men  were  drinking  at  bars,  the  same  as  they  do  in 
licensed  places.  The  police  standing  with  the  others. 
This  outrage  of  law  and  decency  was  in  violation  of 
the  oaths  taken  by  every  city  officer,  including  mayor 
and  councilmen,  and  they  were  as  much  bound  to  de 
stroy  these  joints  as  they  would  be  to  arrest  a  mur 
derer,  or  break  up  a  den  of  thieves,  but  many  of  these 
so-called  officers  encouraged  the  violation  of  the  law 
and  patronized  these  places.  I  have  often  explained 
that  this  was  the  scheme  of  politicians  and  brewers  to 
make  prohibition  a  failure,  by  encouraging  in  every 
way  the  violation  of  the  constitution.  I  felt  the  out 
rage  deeply,  and  would  gladly  have  given  my  life  to 
redress  the  wrongs  of  the  people.  As  Esther  said: 
"How  can  I  see  the  desolation  of  my  people?  If  I 
perish,  I  perish."  (Esther  4:16.)  As  Patrick  Henry 
said :  "Give  me  liberty  or  give  me  death." 

I  finally  came  to  the  "Carey  Hotel,"  next  to  which 
was  called  the  Carey  Annex  or  Bar.  The  first  thing 
that  struck  me  was  the  life-size  picture  of  a  naked  wo 
man,  opposite  the  mirror.  This  was  an  oil  painting 


144  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

with  a  glass  over  it,  and  was  a  very  fine  painting  hired 
from  the  artist  who  painted  it,  to  be  put  in  that  place 
for  a  vile  purpose.  I  called  to  the  bartender ;  told  him 
he  was  insulting  his  own  mother  by  having  her  form 
stripped  naked  and  hung  up  in  a  place  where  it  was  not 
even  decent  for  a  woman  to  be  in  when  she  had  her 
clothes  on.  I  told  him  he  was  a  law-breaker  and  that 
he  should  be  behind  prison  bars,  instead  of  saloon  bars. 
He  said  nothing  to  me  but  walked  to  the  back  of  his 
saloon.  It  is  very  significant  that  the  picture  of  naked 
women  are  in  saloons.  Women  are  stripped  of  every 
thing  by  them.  Her  husband  is  torn  from  her,  she  is 
robbed  of  her  sons,  her  home,  her  food  and  her  virtue, 
and  then  they  strip  her  clothes  off  and  hang  her  up 
bare  in  these  dens  of  robbery  and  murder.  Truly  does 
a  saloon  make  a  woman  bare  of  all  things !  The  mo 
tive  for  doing  this  is  to  suggest  vice,  animating  the 
animal  in  man  and  degrading  the  respect  he  should 
have  for  the  sex  to  whom  he  owes  his  being,  yes,  his 
Savior  also ! 

I  decided  to  go  to  the  Carey  for  several  reasons.  It 
wras  the  most  dangerous,  being  the  finest.  The  low 
doggery  will  take  the  low  and  keep  them  low,  but  these 
so-called  respectable  ones  will  take  the  respectable, 
make  them  low,  then  kick  them  out.  A  poor  vagabond 
applied  to  a  bar-tender  in  one  of  these  hells  glittering 
with  crystalized  tears  and  fine  fixtures.  The  man  be 
hind  the  bar  said :  "You  get  out,  you  disgrace  my 
place."  The  poor  creature,  who  had  been  his  mother's 
greatest  treasure,  shuffled  out  toward  the  door.  An 
other  customer  came  in,  a  nice  looking  young  man, 
with  a  good  suit,  a  white  collar,  and  looking  as  if  he 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  145 

had  plenty  of  money.  Tfye  smiling  bar-tender  mixed 
a  drink  and  was  handing  it  to  him.  The  poor  vaga 
bond  from  the  door  called  out.  "Five  years  ago,  I 
came  into  your  place,  looking  just  like  that  young  man. 
You  have  made  me  what  you  see  me  now.  Give  that 
drink  to  me  and  finish  your  work.  Don't  begin  on 
him." 

I  went  back  to  the  hotel  and  bound  the  rod  and  cane 
together,  then  wrapped  paper  around  the  top  of  it.  I 
slept  but  little  that  night,  spending  most  of  the  night 
in  prayer.  I  wore  a  large  cape.  I  took  the  cane  and 
walked  down  the  back  stairs  the  next  morning,  and 
out  into  the  alley,  I  picked  up  as  many  rocks  as  I  could 
carry  under  my  cape.  I  walked  into  the  Carey  bar-, 
room,  and  threw  two  rocks  at  the  picture ;  then  turned 
and  smashed  the  mirror  that  covered  almost  the  entire 
side  of  the  large  room.  Some  men  drinking  at  the  bar 
ran  out;  the  bar-tender  was  wiping  a  glass  and  he 
seemed  transfixed  to  the  spot  and  never  moved.  I  took 
the  cane  and  broke  up  the  sideboard,  which  had  on  it 
all  kinds  of  intoxicating  drinks.  Then  I  ran  out  across 
the  street  to  destroy  another  one.  I  was  arrested  at 
8  :30  A.  M.,  my  rocks  and  cane  taken  from  me,  and  I 
was  taken  to  the  police  headquarters,  where  I  was 
treated  very  nicely  by  the  Chief  of  Police,  Mr.  Cubbin, 
who  seemed  to  be  amused  at  what  I  had  done.  This 
man  was  not  very  popular  with  the  administration,  and 
was  soon  put  out.  I  was  kept  in  the  office  until  6  :30 
P.  M.  Gov.  Stanley  was  in  town  at  that  time,  and  I 
telephoned  to  several  places  for  him.  I  saw  that  he 
was  dodging  me,  so  I  called  a  messenger  boy  and  sent 
a  note  to  Gov.  Stanley,  telling  him  that  I  was  unlawful- 


146  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

ly  restrained  of  my  liberty;  that  I  wished  him  to  call 
and  see  me,  or  try  to  relieve  me  in  some  way.  The 
messenger  told  me,  when  he  came  back,  that  he  caught 
him  at  his  home,  that  he  read  the  message  over  three 
times,  then  said :  "I  have  nothing  to  say/'  and  went  in, 
and  closed  the  door.  This  is  the  man  who  taught  Sun 
day  school  in  Wichita  for  twenty  years,  where  they 
were  letting  these  murder  shops  run  in  violation  of 
the  law.  Strange  that  this  man  should  pull  wool  over 
the  eyes  of  the  voters  of  Kansas.  I  never  did  have 
any  confidence  in  him. 

Kansas  has  learned  some  dear  lessons,  and  she  will 
be  wise  indeed  when  she  learns  that  only  Prohibition 
ists  will  enforce  prohibition  laws. 

At  6  :30  P.  M.,  I  was  tried  and  taken  to  Wichita  jail ; 
found  guilty  of  malicious  mischief,  Sam  Amidon  being 
the  prosecuting  attorney,  and  the  friend  of  every  joint 
keeper  in  the  city.  He  called  me  a  "spotter,"  when  I 
wanted  to  give  evidence  agairist  the  jointists. 

The  legislature  was  to  convene  in  a  few  days  and  it 
was  understood  that  the  question  of  re-submitting  the 
Prohibition  Amendment  would  come  up.  Being  a  part 
of  the  constitution,  the  ^people  had  to  vote  on  it,  and 
it  was  frustrating  their  plans  to  have  such  agitation  at 
this  time,  and  these  republican  leaders  were  determined 
to  put  a  quietus  upon  me,  if  possible.  The  scheme  was 
to  get  me  in  an  insane  asylum,  and  they  wished  to  in 
crease  my  insanity,  as  they  called  my  zeal,  so  as  to  hav^ 
me  out  of  their  way,  for  1  was  calling  too  much  atten 
tion  to  their  lawlessness,  at  this  time,  when  it  might 
prove  disastrous  to  their  plots.  Two  sheriffs  conduct 
ed  me  to  my  cell.  The  sensation  of  being  locked  in 


3g 


W   n 


P 


g  w 

^    H 


148  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

such  a  place  for  the  first  time  is  not  like  any  other,  and 
never  occurs  the  second  time.  These  men  watched  me 
after  the  door  was  locked.  I  tried  to  be  brave,  but  the 
tears  were  running  down  my  face.  I  took  hold  of  the 
iron  bars  of  my  door,  and  tried  to  shake  them  and  said : 
"Never  mind,  you  put  me  in  here  a  cub,  but  I  will  go 
out  a  roaring  lion  and  I  will  make  all  hell  howl."  I 
wanted  to  let  them  know  that  I  was  going  to  grow 
while  in  there. 

Three  days  after,  on  the  30th,  there  was  brought  in 
and  put  next  to  my  cell  an  old  man  named  Isaiah  Coop 
er,  a  lunatic,  who  raved,  cursed  and  tore  his  clothes 
and  bedding.  There  were  some  cigarette  smokers  in 
the  jail  and  the  fumes  came  in  my  cell,  for  I  had  noth 
ing  but  a  barred  door.  I  begged  that  I  might  not  be 
compelled  to  smell  this  poison,  but,  instead  of  dimin 
ishing,  the  smoke  increased.  Two  prisoners  from  an 
other  part  of  the  jail  were  put  in  cells  next  to  mine. 

What  an  outrage,  to  tax  the  citizens  of  Sedgwick 
county  to  build  such  a  jail  as  that  in  Wichita.  It  holds 
one  hundred  and  sixty  prisoners.  There  were  thirteen 
there  when  I  was  put  in.  I  have  been  in. many  jails, 
but  in  none  other  did  I  ever  see  a  rotary,  a  large  iron 
cage,  with  one  door,  the  little  cells  the  shape  of  a  piece 
of  pie.  Perhaps  there  were  a  dozen  in  this  one.  The 
cage  rotated  within  a  cylinder.  This  was  for  the  worst 
criminals,  and  the  cells  were  only  large  enough  for  a 
small  cot',  a  chair  and  a  table  about  a  foot  square. 

Mr.  Simmons  was  the  sheriff  and  he  told  the  prison 
ers  to  "smoke  all  they  pleased,"  that  he  would  keep 
them  in  material,  and  he  kept  his  word.  Tobacco 
smoke  is  poison  to  me  and  cigarettes  are  worse.  The 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  149 

health  board  belonged  to  this  republican  whiskey  ring, 
and.  was  in  conspiracy  to  make  me  insane,  so  they  put 
a  quarantine  on  the  jail  for  three  weeks,  and  I  was  a 
lone  woman  in  there,  with  two  cigarette  smokers,  and 
a  maniac,  next  to  my  cell.  John,  the  Trusty,  smoked 
a  horrid  strong  pipe,  and  he  was  next  to  my  cell. 
Strange  to  say,  when  that  jail  had  so  many  apartments, 
and  so  few  in  them,  that  four  inmates  shauld  have 
been  put  next  to  me;  but  there  was  "a  cause."  Mr. 
Dick  Dodd  was  the  jailer,  and  for  three  weeks  he  was 
the  only  one  who  came  in  my  cell  and  I  was  not  al 
lowed  to  see  anyone  in  that  time,  but  Dr.  Jordan  who 
called  once.  I  cried  and  begged  to  be  relieved  of  the 
smoke,  for  I  do  not  think  Mr.  Dodd  realized  how  pois 
onous  it  was  to  me.  I  would  have  to  keep  my  windows 
up  in  the  cold  January  weather,  and  the  fire  would  go 
down  at  night.  I  had  two  blankets,  no  pillow  and  a 
bed  that  the  criminals  had  slept  on  for  years  perhaps. 
I  would  shiver  with  cold,  and  often  would  lay  on  the 
cement  floor  with  my  head  in  my  hands  to  keep  out  of 
the  draught.  Oh  !  the  physical  agony !  I  had  a  strong 
voice  for  singing,  which  I  lost,  and  have  never  been 
able  to  sing,  much  since.  Hour  after  hour  I  would 
lay  on  the  floor,  listening  to  the  ravings  of  this  poor 
old  man,  who  would  fall  on  his  iron  bed  and  hard  floor, 
cursing  and  calling  out  names.  One  night  I  thought 
I  could  not  live  to  see  day.  I  had  in  my  cell  sweetest 
of  all  companions,  my  Bible.  I  read  and  studied  it, 
and  this  particular  night  I  told  the  Lord  he  must  come 
to  my  aid.  As  I  often  do,  I  opened  my  Bible  at  ran 
dom  and  read  the  first  place  I  opened  to,  the  144th 
Psalm.  I  have  often  read  the  book  through,  but  this 


150  THE   USE  AND   NEED   OF 

chapter  seemed  entirely  new.  It  reads,  Verse  1 : 
"Blessed  be  the  Lord  my  strength,  which  teacheth  my 
hands  to  war  and  my  ringers  to  fight.  2.  My  God  and 
my  fortress  my  high  tower  and  my  deliverer  ;  my  shield 
and  He  in  whom  I  trust;  who  subdueth  my  people  un 
der  me." 

God  told  me  in  this  chapter  that  He  led  me  to  "fight 
with  my  fingers  and  war  with  my  hands ;"  that  He 
would  be  my  refuge  and  deliverer ;  that  He  would  use 
me  to  bring  the  people  to  Him. 

David  had  just  such  enemies  as  these  when  he  says 
in  this  chapter :  6.  "Cast  forth  thy  lightnings  and  scat 
ter  them ;  shoot  out  thine  arrows  and  destroy  them." 

7.  "Send  thine  hand  from  above ;  rid  me  and  deliver 
me  out  of  great  waters  from  the  hand  of  strange  chil 
dren." 

8.  "Whose  mouth  speaketh  vanity ;  and  their  right 
hand  is  a  right  hand  of  falsehood." 

12.  "That  our  sons  may  be  plants  grown  up  in  their 
youth ;  that  our  daughters  may  be  as  corner-stones  pol 
ished  after  the  similitude  of  a  palace." 

Here  is  the  motive:  The  drink  murders  our  sons, 
and  do  not  allow  them  to  grow  to  be  healthy,  brave, 
strong  men.  The  greatest  enemy  of  woman  and  her 
offspring  and  her  virtue  is  the  licensed  hell-holes  or 
saloons. 

13.  "That  our  garners  may  be  full  affording  all  man 
ner  of  store." 

Our  grain  is  used  to  poison;  our  bread-stuff  is 
turned  to  the  venom  of  asps  and  the  bread  winner  is 
burdened  with  disease  of  drunkeness,  where  health 
should  be  the  result,  of  raising  that  which,  when  rotted 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  151 

and  made  into  alcohol,  perpetrates  ruin  and  death  ;  our 
garners  or  grain  houses  are  spoiled  or  robbed. 

14.  "That  there  be  no  breaking  in  or  going  out ;  that 
there  be  no  complaining  in  our  street." 

What  is  it  causing  the  breaking  into  jails,  prisons, 
asylums,  penitentiaries,  alms-houses?  The  going  out 
of  the  homes,  of  hearts ;  going  out  into  the  cold ;  going 
into  drunkards'  graves  and  a  drunkards'  hell? 

"Complaining  in  our  streets."  Oh !  the  cold  and 
hungry  little  children !  Oh !  the  weeping  wives  and 
mothers !  Oh  !  the  misery  and  desolation  of  the  drunk 
ards  !  All  from  this  drink  of  sorrow  and  death. 

15.  "Happy  is  that  people  that  is  in  such  a  case ;  yea, 
happy  is  that  people  whose  God  is  the  Lord." 

"People  whose  God  is  the  Lord,"  will  not  allow  this 
evil.  They  will  smash  it  out  in  one  way  or  another. 
This  blessed  word  was  a  "lamp  to  my  feet  and  light 
to  my  pathway."  'Ps.  119.)  I  rejoiced  for  the  comfort 
it  gave  me ;  for  the  Lord  truly  talked  to  my  soul  while 
I  read  and  reread  this.  I  must  say  that  "Little  Dodds," 
the  turnkey  as  I  called  him,  was  often  kind  to  me,  but 
he  was  completely  the  servant  of  Simmons  arid  his 
wife. 

John,  the  Dutch  trusty,  said  to  me  one  day:  "There 
is  something  in  the  wind ;  people  are  coming  and  going 
and  talking  to  Dodds."  Mr.  Dodds  was  ^supposed  to 
be  quarantined  in  the  jail,  but  he  went  in  and  out  of 
the  office  and  he  would  also  go  to  his  home ;  the  pris 
oners  saw  him  from  the  window  time  and  time  again. 

One  night  the  poor  old  man  fell  so  hard  on  the  floor, 
or  bed  that  he  lay  as  one  dead,  for  some  time.  The 
jailer  and  others  were  aroused  and  before  they  dare 


152  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

have  a  physician  come  in,  they  had  to  scrub  and  clean 
the  cell.  Then  Dr.  Jordan  came,  and  the  old  man  was 
finally  brought  to  life.  This  doctor  was  in  the  con 
spiracy  to  have  me  adjudged  insane.  A  woman  fifty- 
five  years  old,  who  never  broke  a  statute  of  Kansas. 

Mr.  Dodds  told  me  that  Sam  Amidon,  county  at 
torney,  would  have  a  cab  at  the  back  door  of  the  jail 
and  would  take  me  out.  I  consented.  John,  the 
Trusty,  said  to  me,  "Don't  you  leave  this  jail,  there  is 
some  plotting  going  on,  and  they  mean  mischief."  I 
asked  him  to  get  me  a  wire  to  fasten  my  door,  which 
he  did,  and  I  wound  it  around  the  open  places  in  the 
door  and  to  the  iron  beam  it  shut  on,  and  then  John 
brought  me  the  leg  of  a  cot.  I  watched  all  night, 
listening  for  some  one  to  come  in  my  cell  to  drag  me 
out.  With  the  cot  leg  I  was  going  to  strike  their  hands 
if  they  attempted  to  open  the  door.  I  know  what  it  is 
to  expect  murder  in  my  cell.  God  said :  "He  would 
stand  by  me,  and  who  but  He,  has." 

I  got  so  many  letters  from  poor,  distracted  mothers, 
who  wrote  so  often :  "For  God's  sake  come  here."  In 
some  letters  there  was  money.  One  letter  from  a  Unit 
ed  Brethren  church  in  Winfield,  Kansas ;  the  minister, 
Brother  Hendershot,  wrote  me  that  he  took  up  a  col 
lection  in  their  church  for  me  of  $7.38.  How  I  cried 
over  that  letter  and  kissed  it !  I  knew  that  I  had  some 
friends  who  understood  me;  and  just  after  this  letter, 
one  from  a  Catholic  priest  came,  which  was  a  great 
comfort.  The  many  letters  I  got  from  all  kinds  of 
vicious  people  was  a  great  encouragement  to  me.  I 
must  say :  "All  hell  got  hit,  when  I  smashed  the  sa 
loons."  For  I  never,  until  then,  knew  that  people 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  153 

thought,  or  could  write  such  vile  things ;  letter  after 
letter,  of  the  most  horrible  infidelity,  cursing  God,  call 
ing  me  every  vile  name,  and  threatening  me. 

I  was  not  allowed  a  pillow ;  I  begged  for  one,  for  I 
had  La  Grippe,  and  my  head  was  very  sore,  my  body 
was  filled  with  excruciating  pains.  Mr.  Dodd  fre 
quently  brought  me  the  papers,  and  nearly  every  time 
the  Wichita  Eagle  would  have  some  falsehoods  con 
cerning  me,  always  giving  out  that  I  "was  crazy," 
"was  in  a  padded  cell,"  "only  a  matter  of  time  when 
I  would  be  in  the  insane  asylum ;"  that  I  used  "obscene 
language"  and  "was  raving."  The  Bible  says :  "All 
liars  shall  have  their  part  in  the  lake  that  burns  with 
fire."  (Rev.  21:8)  ;  so  the  Murdocks  of  Wichita  ought 
to  tremble.  I  associate  the  name  "Murdock"  with 
murder.  The  real  depravity  of  such  people  was  shown, 
when  a  lone  old  woman  with  a  love  of  humanity,  was 
in  a  cell  suffering  so  unjustly,  that  these  people  should 
have  left  nothing  undone  to  prejudice  the  people 
against  her.  Even  when  my  brother  died,  this  Mur 
dock  paper  spoke  of  me  "raving  in  jail,"  and  I  was  not 
privileged  to  go  to  him  in  his  dying  hours.  Such  peo 
ple  drove  the  nails  in  the  hands  and  the  spear  in  the 
side  of  Jesus. 

This  Wichita  Eagle  is  the  rum-bought  sheet  that  has 
made  Wichita  one  of  the  most  lawless  places  in  Kan 
sas. 

When  first  arrested  in  Wichita,  in  violation  of  the 
Constitution,  I  was  denied  bail  and  compelled  to  bring 
a  habeas  corpus  proceeding  in  the  supreme  court  to 
get  a  trial  or  bail.  Sam  Amidon,  as  attorney  for  Sim 
mons  proposed  a  return  of  the  writ,  and  filed  a  false 


154  THE   USE  AND   NEED   OF 

certificate  from  Dr.  Shults,  president  of  the  board  of 
health,  stating  that  the  board  had  quarantined  the  jail. 
Rather  than  face  the  supreme  court  with  a  false  return, 
the  case  was  dismissed.  I  do  not  believe  that  history 
ever  recorded  a  quarantine  of  a  jail  before,  for  public 
buildings,  such  as  postoffices,  court  houses  or  jails  can 
not  be  made  pest  houses,  and  such  buildings  are 
cleansed.  There  was  not  a  meeting  of  the  health 
board.  This  was  a  conspiracy,  signed  by  Dr.  Shults 
and  the  sheriff,  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  me  in  jail, 
preventing  me  from  seeing  my  friends  or  lawyers,  and 
by  persecution  to  get  me  in  an  insane  asylum.  Below 
is  a  copy  of  this  fraudulent  notice : 

ORIGINAL   NOTICE  TO  O.   D.    KIRK,   JUDGE,   HARDEN   EBEY, 
CLERK,    CHAS.    W.    SIMMONS,    SHERIFF. 

Served  Tuesday,  January  15,  1901. 

To  O.  D.  Kirk,  Judge;  Harden  Ebey,  Clerk;  and 
Charles  W.  Simmons,  Sheriff: 

You,  and  each  of  you,  are  hereby  notified  that  the 
following  is  a  copy  of  a  paper  purporting  to  be  a  state 
ment  made  by  J.  W.  Shults,  President  of  the  Board  of 
Health,  of  Wichita,  Kansas,  and  attached  to  the  re 
turn  of  Charles  W.  Simmons  in  the  matter  of  the  ap 
plication  of  CARRIE  NATION  for  a  Writ  of  Habeas  Cor 
pus  now  pending  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State 
of  Kansas,  viz: 

"WICHITA,  KANSAS,  December  29,  1900. 
"At  special  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Health,  held  in 
the  City  of  Wichita,  Kansas,  on  the  29th  day  of  De- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  155 

cember,  1900,  at  the  office  of  Dr.  J.  W.  Shults,  presi 
dent  of  the  board  of  Health,  the  following  resolution 
was  adopted  and  ordered  spread  upon  the  minutes  kept 
by  the  said  board.  'Whereas  it  has  come  to  the  knowl 
edge  of  the  board  of  health  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
jail  of  Sedgwick  county,  Kansas,  have  been  exposed  to 
small  pox  and  that  one  Isaiah  Cooper  confined  therein 
has  been  exposed  to  smallpox  and  is  infected  with  said 
disease  and  that  the  said  Isaiah  Cooper  is  a  violently 
insane  man -and  it  is  impossible  to  move  him  from  said 
jail  and  that  all  of  the  said  jail  have  been  exposed  to 
the  same  and  that  one  W.  A.  Jordan,  who  as  county 
physician  of  Sedgwick  county  and  city  physician  of 
the  city  of  Wichita,  Kansas,  asked  and  desired  and  de 
manded  that  said  jail  be  quarantined  or  that  said  Isaiah 
Cooper  be  removed  therefrom  and  that  said  jail  be 
fumigated,  and  whereas  it  is  impossible  to  remove  the 
said  Isaiah  Cooper  therefrom,  the  action  of  said  W. 
A.  Jordan  in  recommending  the  quarantine  of  the  said 
county  jail  and  in  quarantining  the  same  is  hereby  ap 
proved  and  the  said  county  jail  is  hereby  declared  quar 
antined  and  ordered  quarantined  for  the  space  of 
twenty-one  days  from  this  date  and  all  persons  in 
charge  of  said  jail  and  the  health  officer  of  said  city 
are  hereby  directed  to  enforce  this  said  quarantine  and 
the  order  of  the  said  W.  A.  Jordan. 

J.  W.  SHULTS,  M.  D., 
President  of  Board  of  Health." 

and  that  the  above  statement  is  not  true;  that  there 
was  no  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Health  on  the  29th 
day  of  December,  1900,  and  that  the  said  jail  has  never 


156  THE   USE   AND    NEED  OF 

been  quarantined  by  the  said  Board  of  Health  on  the 
said  29th  day  of  December  or  at  any  other  time. 
Dated  at  Wichita,  Kansas,  January  14,  1901. 
W.  S.  ALLEN, 
RAY  &  KEITH, 
ROBT.  BROWN, 

Attorneys  for  Carrie  Nation,  an 
inmate  of  said  jail. 

Served  on  O.  B.  Kirk,  9  :20  a.  m.,  Tuesday,  January 
15,  1901; 

Harden  Ebey,  9 :20  a.  m.,  Tuesday,  January  15, 
1901 ; 

Chas.  W.  Simmons,  9 :35  a.  m.,  Tuesday,  January 
15,  1901. 

I  could  tell  of  many  interesting  incidents  in  jail. 
There  were  five  singers,  one  a  graduate  of  the  Conser 
vatory  of  Music  in  Boston,  and  Mr.  Dodd  was  a  fine 
singer  himself;  he  would  often  sing  with  the  prison 
ers,  and  it  was  a  great  pleasure  to  me.  One  song  he 
would  have  the  boys  sing  was:  "My  Old  Kentucky 
Home."  We  had  a  genuine  poet  there,  and  I  here  give 
you  a  poem  he  sent  up  to  me  one  day,  by  the  trusty : 

SOLEMN  THOUGHTS. 
'Twas  an  aged  and  Christian  martyr, 
Sat  alone  in  a  prison  cell, 
Where  the  law  of  state  had  brought  her, 
For  wrecking  an  earthly  hell. 

Day  by  day,  and  night  she  dwelt  there, 
Singing  songs  of  Christ's  dear  love ; 
At  His  cross  she  pray'd  and  knelt  there, 
As  an  angel  from  above. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  157 

In  the  cells  and  'round  about  her, 
Prisoners  stood,  deep  stained  in  sin; 
Listening  to  the  prayers  she'd  offer, 
Looking  for  her  Christ  within. 

Some  who'd  never  known  a  mother, 
Ne'er  had  learned  to  kneel  and  pray, 
Raised  their  hands,  their  face  to  cover, 
Till  her  words  had  died  away. 

In  the  silent  midnight  hours, 
Came  a  voice  in  heavenly  strain, 
Floating  o'er  in  peaceful  showers, 
Bringing  sunshine  after  rain. 

Each  one  rose  from  out  his  slumber, 
Listening  to  her  songs  of  cheer, 
Then  the  stillness  rent  asunder, 
With  their  praises  loud  and  clear. 

Praise  from  those  whose  crimes  had  led  them, 
O'er  a  dark  and  stormy  sea. 
Where  its  waves  had  lashed  and  tossed  them 
into  ''hell's"  captivity. 

Wine  it  was,  the  drink  that  led  them, 
From  the  tender  Shepherd's  fold, 
Now  they  hear  His  voice  that  calls  them, 
With  His  precious  words  of  gold. 

Like  the  sheep  that  went  astray, 
Twice  we've  heard  the  story  told, 
They  heard  His  voice,  they  saw  the  way, 
That  leads  into  His  pastured  fold. 


158  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

The  first  time  I  was  put  in  jail,  after  everything  was 
quiet,  I  heard  some  prisoner  down  below,  swearing, 
and  I  called  out:  "What  do  you  mean  boys  by  asking 
God  to  damn  this  place?  I  think  he  has  done  so  and 
we  don't  want  any  more  damns  here.  Get  down  on 
your  knees  and  ask  God  to  bless  you."  And  all  the 
rest  of  the  time  I  never  heard  an  oath.  In  a  week  or 
so  I  heard  them  singing  hymns ;  and  I  called  to  them : 
"How  are  you  boys  ?" 

"We  have  all  been  converted  since  the  first  of  Jan 
uary,"  was  their  reply. 

One  of  those  young  men  got  out  while  I  was  there, 
and  came  to  my  cell  and  told  me  that  it  was  true  about 
their  conversion. 

Oh  !  the  sad  hearts  behind  the  bars  !  Oh  !  the  injus 
tice  !  I  am  glad  I  have  been  a  prisoner  for  one  thing, 
I  never  see  a  face  behind  the  bars  that  my  heart  does 
not  pity.  I  have  heard  so  many  tales  of  ruined  lives ; 
have  seen  men  with  muscles  and  brain,  bowed  into 
tears.  Oh !  if  we  would  only  love  each  other  more ; 
if  we  would  feel  as  Paul:  "To  owe  love"  to  all  we 
meet,  and  pay  the  debt.  'Tis  the  most  pleasant  debt  to 
pay  and  the  indebtedness  blesses  both  parties,  especial 
ly  the  one  who  pays.  I  used  to  think  that  birth  and 
other  circumstances  made  one  person  better  than  an 
other.  I  do  not  see  it  that  way  now.  The  man  with 
many  opportunities  is  not  entitled  to  as  much  con 
sideration  as  one  with  fewer.  I  am  the  defender  of 
the  one  who  needs  help  most.  The  great  need  of  the 
world  is  Love. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

OUT  OF  JAIL  FIRST  TIME. EGGS  AND  STONES. SMASH 
ING   STILLING'S    JOINT    AT    ENTERPRISE,    KANSAS. — 

WHIPPED    BY    HIRED    PROSTITUTES. PLOT     AT     HOLT, 

KANSAS   BY   HOTEL   KEEPER  AND  JOINTIST  TO   POISON 

AND  SLUG   ME. MY   HAND   BROKEN   AND   HANDCUFFS 

USED. FAINT   FROM    HUNGER. HOW   I    CAME  TO   USE 

HATCHETS  AS  SOUVENIRS. 

I  got  out  of  Wichita  jail  about  the  last  week  in  Jan 
uary,  1901,  under  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  I  got  bail, 
a  Mr.  Jones  of  Wichita  went  my  bail,  God  bless  him. 
I  left  on  the  evening  train. 

While  in  jail  I  got  a  letter  asking  me  to  come  to  En 
terprise,  Dickinson  county,  and  break  up  saloons  there. 
I  said  the  name  Enterprise,  is  good  and  I  will  go ;  so 
I  left  jail  with  the  intention  of  going  there.  It  was 
dark  when  I  started  for  the  train.  Many  of  the  Salva 
tion  Army  were  near  me.  The  streets  were  almost 
impassable,  and  the  whole  city  seemed  to  be  on  the 
streets  marching  down  to  the  station,  in  expectation 
of  something. 

Many  said:  "Are  you  not  afraid?"  "Perfect  love 
casteth  out  all  fear."  (I  John  4:18.)  I  love  the  people 
I  do  not  fear  them. 

There  walked  by  my  side,  a  man  keeping  the  crowd 
back.  "Are  you  one  of  the  Salvation  Army?"  I  said 
to  him.  He  said :  "No,  I  am  only  a  tin  horn  gambler." 

I  asked  him :  "Why  do  you  seem  to  be  such  a  friend 
of  mine." 


160  THE    USE   AND   NEED  OF 

He  answered :  "Because  I  intend  that  no  one  shall 
hurt  you,  for  you  are  a  good  woman,  and  I  will  see 
you  safe."  He  carried  my  valise  and  put  me  on  the 
train. 

There  were  several  hundred  people  at  the  depot  and 
the  crowding  was  dangerous.  I  wanted  to  see  the 
crowd,  so  I  raised  the  window,  waved  my  hand  and  a^ 
the  train  pulled  out,  the  eggs  began  to  come ;  the  win 
dow  fell  down  and  I  did  not  get  a  spatter.  God  said : 
"I'll  stand  by  you."  explains  this.  In  two  minutes  a 
rock  the  size  of  my  fist  came  crashing  in  at  the  win 
dow  ;  shivered  the  glass,  and  the  rock  fell  down  at  my 
side ;  which  was  a  miracle.  Not  once  did  I  feel  alarm 
ed  but  smiled ;  while  all  the  passengers  were  on  their 
feet  with  fright. 

AT  ENTERPRISE. 

I  stayed  all  night  with  a  Mrs.  Hoffman  and  next 
morning,  I  went  down  to  a  dive  kept  by  a  man  named 
Stillings.  He  had  closed  to  go  to  a  baseball  game. 
The  door  was  locked,  so  I  broke  the  front  glass  and 
climbed  in.  Several  women  were  on  the  outside,  and 
were  friendly  to  smashing.  I  broke  the  place  up. 
There  were  twelve  cases  of  beer  and  I  destroyed  them 
and  piled  them  up  in  the  center  of  the  room  on  the 
floor.  At  the  close,  the  marshal  came  in,  took  me  out 
and  would  not  let  me  break  up  the  other  dive  near  by. 
Neither  did  he  arrest  me. 

I  came  down  on  the  corner  of  the  street  that  night, 
to  tell  the  people  why  I  did  this,  when  Stillings  passed, 
cursing  and  shaking  his  fist  at  me,  saying :  "My  wife 
will  settle  you."  Just  then  a  furious  woman  came 

10 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  161 

around  the  corner,  rushed  up  to  me  and  struck  me  a 
fearful  blow  in  the  eye,  then  ran  to  her  husband,  Still- 
ings,  and  in  a  frantic  manner  said :  "I  have  done  what 
you  asked  me,  now  let  us  go  home."  I  stopped  speak 
ing  long  enough  to  go  into  a  meat  shop  and  have  a 
piece  of  fresh  meat  bound  on  my  eye,  which  was  al 
ready  very  dark  and  painful.  Then  I  finished  my  ad 
dress,  and  we  organized  a  society  to  smash  saloons,  if 
they  did  not  close.  Next  morning  we  went  down  the 
street  in  a  body,  Mrs.  Hoffman  and  other  women,  and 
the  other  dive  keeper  talked  to  us  and  promised  to  go 
out  of  business.  This  Stillings  came  to  me  again  curs 
ing  and  threatening,  saying:  "His  wife  would  fix  me." 
Although  this  man  was  disturbing  the  peace,  disorder 
ly  and  dangerous,  no  one  offered  to  arrest  him.  He 
held  me,  while  four  women  ran  from  some  place  with 
whips  and  sticks.  One  beat  me  with  her  fist,  another 
with  a  whip,  one  with  a  raw-hide,  while  one  pulled  my 
hair  and  kicked  me  into  the  gutter,  nearly  killing  me. 

I  said :  "Women,  will  you  let  me  be  murdered."  For 
although  there  were  men  and  women  present,  not  one 
did  a  thing,  until  at  last,  an  old  lady,  the  mother  of  the 
saloon-keeper's  wife,  picked  up  a  brick  and  said:  "If 
any  one  strikes  that  woman  again  I  will  hit  them  with 
this."  Then  all  rushed  to  defend  me. 

I  was  almost  breathless.  My  hair  was  down,  much 
of  it  being  pulled  out.  I  went  home  with  my  friend, 
Mrs.  Hoffman.  These  women  who  attacked  me  were 
arrested.  The  trial  brought  out  the  fact  that  this  dive- 
keeper,  Stillings,  had  hired  these  women.  To  the 
gambler's  wife  he  was  to  give  twenty-five  dollars,  to 
use  the  raw-hide.  Two  women  were  prostitutes,  whom 


162  THE    USE   AND    NEED   OF 

this  Stillings  had  brought  to  town  for  this  purpose. 
They  were  fined  a  small  sum,  and  the  whole  of  them 
given  a  few  hours  to  leave  town. 

My  body  was  bruised  and  sore.  My  limbs  were 
striped  with  bruises ;  but  I  was  only  disabled  two  days. 

While  in  Enterprise  I  got  a  telegram  from  Hope, 
signed  by  the  "Temperance  Committee,"  it  read : 
''Come  here  and  help  us  break  up  dives."  This  little 
town  was  only  twelve  miles  from  Enterprise.  In  go 
ing  to  the  train  that  night  there  seemed  to  have  been 
some  one  hiding  on  every  corner  throwing  eggs.  My 
dress  was  covered  with  them.  I  got  to  Hope  at  mid 
night.  When  I  got  off  the  train,  I  began  to  fear  it  was 
a  plot  to  injure  me  for  no  one  was  there  to  meet  me, 
and  I  saw  some  suspicious  men  keeping  in  the  dark. 
1  got  into  a  hack  and  went  to  a  hotel.  I  asked  for  the 
house-keeper,  but  every  one  had  retired.  I  went  up  to 
my  room,  which  was  very  small.  It  had  one  window 
which  was  raised  an  inch  with  a  lath  under  it,  and  I 
thought  it  strange  at  the  time  that  the  landlord  should 
have  let  the  window  down,  but  I  was  very  tired  and 
dropped  asleep  almost  as  soon  as  I  touched  the  bed. 
About  two  o'clock  I  was  awakened  with  a  smothered 
feeling,  struggling  for  breath.  I  jumped  for  the  win 
dow,  which  I  threw  up,  for  the  room  was  full  of  the 
most  poisonous  odor,  as  of  cigarettes,  and  other 
smells.  I  knew  that  there  were  persons  at  the  door 
purring  the  poison  in.  I  sat  at  the  window  and  listened 
and  in  about  fifteen  minutes  I  heard  some  one  whist 
ling  and  saw  through  the  transom  that  a  light  was 
coming.  A  man  stopped  at  my  door  and  knocked. 

"What  do  you  want?" 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  1(53 

"I  want  to  speak  to  you/'  he  replied. 

"What  is  it?" 

"I  want  to  speak  to  you." 

God  showed  me  in  a  vision  two  men  crouched  on 
each  side  of  the  door  ready  to  either  catch  or  slug  me, 
if  the  door  was  opened. 

"I  see  you  sluggers  on  each  side  of  the  door.  You 
villain,  you  have  tried  to  murder  me  by  throwing 
poison  in  my  room  and  now  you  are  trying  something 
else." 

"There  is  a  mob  here  after  you." 

"You  are  a  liar,"  I  answered. 

"There  is  a  committee  wants  to  speak  to  you." 

"You  are  telling  lies  in  order  to  have  me  open  my 
door." 

Pie  left  and  went  down  below,  and  for  ten  minutes 
there  was  a  great  tramping  of  feet  and  I  could  hear  the 
landlord  pretending  to  disperse  a  crowd.  I  watched 
from  my  window  and  saw  two  men  walking  away. 
I  certainly  was  thankful  for  a  lock  on  my  door.  Next 
morning  when  ready  to  leave  my  room,  I  looked  up 
and  down  the  passages  well ;  then  I  hurried  and  did 
not  feel  safe,  until  I  got  on  the  outside.  I  asked  a  lit 
tle  boy  if  there  were  any  Christians  in  Hope. 

"No,  but  there  are  some  in  the  country." 

1  got  my  breakfast  at  a  restaurant,  and  I  called  out 
on  the  streets  that  T  would  hold  a  meeting  in  front  of 
the  hotel  where  I  had  stopped.  There  was  a  crowd, 
and  I  then  told  of  the  telegram  and  of  how  I  was 
treated.  I  pointed  to  the  landlord,  who  was  the  picture 
of  a  villain,  and  a  coward.  The  two  dive-keepers  of 


164  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

Hope  were  at  this  meeting.     They  asked  me  if  I  in 
tended  to  smash  the  saloons  there. 

"Of  course,  I  didn't  come  to  Hope  to  do  anything 
else." 

One  man  told  me  that  he  would  shoot  me  if  I  came 
into  his  place.  "I  am  not  afraid  of  your  gun.  Maybe 
it  would  be  a  good  thing  for  a  saloon-keeper  to  kill 
Carry  Nation.  It  might  be  the  means  of  causing  the 
people  to  smash  the  dives." 

The  one  that  talked  to  me  was  white  with  fear  and 
anger,  but  at  last  the  color  came  back  to  his  face,  and 
soon  he  was  in  good  humor;  he  told  me  he  never  ex 
pected  to  open  that  saloon  again.  In  less  than  ten 
days  from  that  time,  the  people  of  the  county  became 
$o  aroused,  that  the  prosecuting  attorney  closed  every 
saloon  in  the  county,  which  were  twelve  in  number. 

From  Hope  I  went  to  Topeka.  I  stopped  with  the 
'United  Brethren  minister  there,  and  spoke  in  his 
church.  The  saloons  were  all  over  Topeka.  I  went 
down  town  after  dark,  to  see  the  condition  of  things. 
It  was  soon  learned  that  I  was  on  the  streets,  and  a 
crowd  gathered.  I  went  to  some  dives  and  joints.  I 
could  not  get  in.  One  had  his  mistress  stationed  at 
the  door  with  a  broomstick.  She  gave  me  four  blows 
before  I  could  get  away,  poor  creature.  I  met  her 
niece  after  that,  who  told  how  the  saloon-keeper  cast 
her  off  and  that  she  died  a  miserable  death. 

While  I  was  there  the  State  Temperance  Union  had 
a  meeting  in  the  First  Presbyterian  church.  Captain 
Cook,  from  Chetopa,  got  up  in  the  meeting  and  said: 
"Here  is  ten  dollars  towards  giving  a  medal  to  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  165 

bravest  woman  in  Kansas,  Carry  Nation."  One  hun 
dred  and  twenty  dollars  was  raised. 

I  said:  "I  would  prefer  that  the  money  be  used  to 
pay  my  lawyers,  rather  than  be  put  into  a  medal  as 
I  did  not  wear  gold  in  any  way." 

But  the  medal  was  purchased.  On  it  is,  "To  the 
bravest  woman  in  Kansas." 

We  held  a  good  many  meetings.  I  spoke  in  several 
churches  and  held  meetings  in  Dr.  Eva  Harding's 
office,  where  we  prepared  to  take  measures  to  break 
up  saloons  in  Topeka,  where  sworn  officials  were  per 
juring  themselves  from  governor  down  to  constable. 
About  this  time  a  certain  woman  pretended  to  be  a 
friend  of  mine,  but  was  a  spy  and  a  traitor.  I  believe 
she  was  hired  by  the  jointists  to  find  out  our  plans. 
She  told  me  she  knew  where  every  saloon  in  the  city 
wras  and  would  show  them  to  me.  It  was  understood 
by  a'few  of  us  that  we  would  make  a  raid  one  morning 
in  February,  1901,  and  I  called  on  this  woman  to  show 
us  where  the  places  were.  We  wandered  around  from 
street  to  street,  and  I  soon  discovered  that  she  was 
keeping  me  away  from  them.  One  young  boy  said: 
"I'll  show  you  a  place." 

I  came  to  one  dive.  I  lifted  my  hatchet  to  smash  the 
door  and  this  woman  grabbed  at  my  hatchet  and  so 
did  the  man.  He  slammed  the  door  and  left  his  hat  in 
my  hand.  I  passed  on  down  to  the  "Senate"  saloon 
and  went  in.  This  was  about  daylight.  The  bar-ten 
der  ran  towards  me  with  a  yell,  wrenched  my  hatchet 
out  of  my  hand  and  shot  off  his  pistol  toward  the  ceil 
ing;  he  then  ran  out  of  the  back  door,  and  I  got  an 
other  hatchet  from  a  woman  companion.  I  ran  behind 


166  THE   USE  AND    NEED  OF 

the  bar,  smashed  the  mirror  and  all  the  bottles  under 
it ;  picked  up  the  cash  register,  threw  it  down ;  then 
broke  the  faucets  of  the  refrigerator,  opened  the  door 
and  cut  the  rubber  tubes  that  conducted  the  beer.  It 
began  to  fly  all  over  the  house.  I  threw  over  the  slot 
machine,  breaking  it  up  and  got  from  it  a  sharp  piece  of 
iron  with  which  I  opened  the  bungs  of  the  beer  kegs, 
and  opened  the  faucets  of  the  barrels,  and  then  the  beer 
flew  in  every  direction  and  I  was  completely  saturated. 
A  policeman  came  in  and  very  good-naturedly  arrested 
me.  For  this  I  was  fined  $100  and  put  in  jail.  Mr. 
Cook  was  sheriff  and  I  was  treated  very  nicely  by  him 
and  Mrs.  Cook.  Mrs.  Cook's  mother  was  visiting 
them  at  this  time,  a  woman  thoroughly  in  sympathy 
with  my  work,  and  I  believe  that  the  influence  of  this 
good  woman  was  the  cause  of  my  being  treated  so 
well,  for  after  she  left  things  were  very  different. 

That  republican  conspiracy  in  Topeka  determined 
to  put  me  in  the  insane  asylum.  One  of  them,  Judge 
Magaw,  swore  on  the  witness  stand  that  he  believed 
me  insane.  His  examination  brought  out  the  fact  that 
I  compelled  him  to  turn  some  obscene  pictures  to  the 
wall  once,  when  I  called  to  see  him  in  his  office. 

I  had  received  ever  so  many  letters  from  all  over  the 
country  justifying  smashing  as  being  reasonable,  right 
and  legal.  I  also  saw  that  the  republican  newspapers 
of  Kansas,  and  other  states,  were  determined  to  put 
me  in  a  false  light  before  the  people.  I  conceived  the 
idea  of  publishing  a  paper.  I  tried  to  get  the  Journal  to 
edit  the  paper,  but  I  could  not  get  anyone  to  take  hold 
of  it.  Some  one  suggested  to  me  Nick  Chiles,  a  negro, 
who  had  a  printing  outfit.  I  knew  but  little  of  this 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  167 

man.  I  sent  for  him  to  come  and  see  me  at  my  cell. 
All  the  money  I  had  in  the  world  was  from  the  sale 
of  ten  cows  which  was  $240.  This  negro,  Chiles  talked 
very  fair  and  promised  to  print  my  paper  in  a  credit 
able  way.  I  gave  him  the  $240.  I  wrote  the  editorials 
while  in  the  jail,  and  also  gave  him  bundles  of  letters 
which  I  had  received  and  a  great  many  poems  that  had 
been  written  on  Carry  Nation  and  smashing.  This 
negro  finally  cheated  me  out  of  my  money  and  papers, 
also.  I  closed  with  him  after  three  weeks,  he  put  the 
papers  out,  collected  for  them  and  never  paid  me  a 
cent. 

My  paper  was  called  THE  SMASHER'S  MAIL.  I 
called  it  this  for  it  was  largely  composed  of  letters 
which  I  had  received  on  the  subject  of  smashing.  I 
had  no  one  to  read  the  proofs  and  was  at  the  mercy 
of  this  negro,  who  was  not  in  smypathy  with  my  cause. 
I  was  often  humiliated  at  the  way  my  articles  were 
tortured.  I  afterwards  got  The  Kansas  Farmer  to 
publish  the  paper  and  I  then  bought  a  press  of  my 
own,  but  found  that  I  could  not  conduct  a  paper  and 
lecture,  so  after  the  13th  edition,  I  closed.  The  paper 
accomplished  this  much,  that  the  public  could  see  by 
my  editorials  that  I  was  not  insane. 

PROPHECIES  THAT  I  CAME  TO  FULFILL. 

No  age  ever  accepted  the  messenger  that  God  sent 
out  for  that  age.  When  people  ask  me  who  gave  me 
this  authority  or  by  what  authority  I  do  these  things,  I 
say,  "It  is  written."  God  has  said  a  great  deal  con 
cerning  the  liquor  traffic.  Jeremiah  says,  "Oh,  that 
my  head  were  waters,  and  my  eyes  fountains  of  tears 


1G8  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

that  I  might  weep  day  and  night  for  the  slain  of  the 
daughter  of  my  people."  He  saw  the  dead  and  dying 
all  over  the  land,  in  alleys,  in  streets,  in  prison-houses, 
in  homes  and  the  mourning  wives  and  sisters  and 
daughters.  Daniel  called  it  "the  abomination  of  deso 
lation."  "Standing  where  it  ought  not  to  stand  and 
standing  in  the  Holy  place."  If  you  go  into  a  saloon 
and  ask  a  man  why  he  makes  that  firey  drink ;  that  is 
made  by  rotting  good  grain  and  good  fruit,  and  any 
thing  that  is  rotten  is  poisonous,  and  it  will  rot  the 
man's  brain  and  will  rot  his  body,  wrill  rot  his  soul,  will 
rot  the  shirt  off  his  back,  will  rot  the  shoes  off  his  feet, 
and  make  a  rotten  mess  of  everything.  That  man  be 
hind  the  bar,  in  defending  himself  will  tell  you  to 
"quarrel  with  the  government,"  he  has  his  license. 
You  ask  him  where  he  got  his  license  from,  he  will 
tell  you  from  the  Internal  Revenue  Office.  Where  is 
that  situated?  In  Washington  City.  Who  controls 
that  ?  The  party  in  power.  Who  licenses  every  saloon 
in  the  United  States,  Alaska  and  the  Philippines  ?  The 
Republican  party.  Who  runs  the  saloons  of  the  Unit 
ed  States  ?  The  Republican  party.  Who  runs  the  Re 
publican  party?  The  Republican  voters.  Which  is 
the  more  dangerous,  the  saloon  keeper  or  the  Republi 
can  voter?  You  will  have  to  acknowledge  that  it  is 
the  voter.  -, Therefore  the  saloon  exists  by  the  author 
ity  and  privilege  of  the  party  in  power.  The  Demo 
cratic  party  does  not  run  the  saloons  because  it  hasn't 
the  opportunity.  If  two  thieves  come  to  town  and  one 
gets  an  opportunity  to  steal  and  the  other  one  doesn't, 
we  would  not  arrest  the  party  that  does  not  get  the 
opportunity,  but  the  party  caught  with  the  goods. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.    NATION.  169 

And  "standing  in  the  Holy  place,"  the  minister  will 
leave  his  pulpit,  the  saloon  keeper  will  leave  his  bar; 
they  both  go  to  the  ballot  box  and  put  in  a  vote  and 
you  cannot  tell  one  from  the  other.  The  liquor  traffic 
stands  in  the  church, -"in  the  Holy  place."  In  the  28th 
chapter  of  Isaiah,  the  saloon  is  spoken  of,  and  also  the 
destruction  of  it  is  prophesied.  God  starts  off  by  say 
ing,  "Woe  to  the  crown  of  pride,  to  the  drunkards  of 
Ephraim,  whose  glorious  beauty  is  a  fading  flower, 
which  are  on  the  head  of  the  fat  valleys,  of  them  that 
are  overcome  with  wine."  Woe !  means  curse,  and  the 
interpretation  of  that  Verse  is  curses  on  the  head  of 
the  government  that  will  make  drunkards,  their  glor 
ious  beauty  being  the  revenue  from  the  liquor  men,  the 
fat  valleys  being  the  capital.  Sodom  and  Gomorrah 
were  fat  valleys.  Now  the  second  verse  is  a  prophecy 
of  my  mission.  "Behold,  the  Lord  hath  a  mighty  and 
strong  one,  which  as  a  tempest  of  hail  and  a  destroy 
ing  storm ;  as  a  flood  of  mighty  waters  overflowing, 
shall  cast  down  to  the  earth  with  the  hand."  The  Lord 
had  one,  this  one  was  to  be  mighty  and  strong.  I  have 
felt  this  might  and  this  strength  when  I  would  go  in 
the  saloons,  when  I  would  pick  up  the  cases  of  beer 
and  dash  them  down,  and  throw  over  the  slot  ma 
chines  and  smash  them  with  my  hatchet,  and  get  a  lit 
tle  sharp  instrument  and  knock  out  the  bungs.  Also, 
"the  tempest  of  hail,"  (smasher,)  the  smashing  sounds 
like  a  hail  storm.  This  is  to  be  a  "destroying  storm," 
the  smashing  and  destruction  of  saloons  makes  it  like 
"a  destroying  storm,  as  a  flood  of  mighty  waters  over 
flowing." 

"Shall  cast  down  to  the  earth  with  a  hand,"  I  chal- 


170  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

lenge  any  interpretation  of  this  scripture  other  than 
that  of  smashing  saloons.  "The  crown  of  pride,"  the 
drunkards  of  Ephraim  shall  be  trodden  under  foot." 
The  Bible  goes  on  to  tell  that  God  will  be  honored  in 
this  smashing,  that  He  is  going  to  sit  at  the  head,  and 
strengthen  them  that  "turn  the  battle  to  the  gate."  (vs. 
5.)  He  speaks  of  the  prophets  and  priests  erring 
through  drink,  says  "all  tables  are  full  of  vomit  and 
filthiness."  (vs.  8.)  This  refers  to  the  filthy  tobacco 
that  so  many  ministers  are  addicted  to,  which  makes 
them  tobacco  drunk,  makes  them  filthy.  No  Christian 
should  listen  to  a  minister  addicted  to  tobacco  drunk 
enness  for  he  is  living  in  willful  violation  of  several  cf 
God's  commands.  He  speaks  of  the  revolution  coming 
through  the  little  children  educated  by  these  mothers, 
says  it  must  be  "line  upon  line,  precept  upon  precept," 
(Isa.  28:10)  which  is  the  secret  of  all  agitation.  Then 
he  says  that,  "the  scornful  men  that  rule  these  people 
will  say,  'we  have  made  a  covenant  with  death  and 
with  hell,  we  are  at  agreement  when  the  overflowing 
scourge  shall  pass  through  it  shall  not  come  unto  us 
for  we  have  made  lies  our  refuge  and  unto  falsehood 
have  we  hid  ourselves."  (Isa.  28:15.)  The  license  sa 
loon  is  a  covenant  with  death,  being  the  death  of  all 
things.  The  death  of  respectability,  the  death  of  moth 
erhood,  the  death  of  love,  the  death  of  the  soul.  And 
with  hell  it  is  an  agreement,  it  does  not  agree  with  a 
school,  a  home,  or  a  church.  It  agrees  only  with  hell. 
The  most  significant  is  the  "refuge  of  lies,"  An  ad 
ministration  calling  itself  a  government  and  murder 
ing  a  hundred  thousand  every  year  is  not  a  govern 
ment,  it  is  a  lie.  An  administration  that  perpetuates 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  171 

crime  at  the  rate  of  75  per  cent,  is  not  a  government, 
it  is  a  lie.  An  administration  that  makes  widows  and 
orphans  all  over  the  country  is  not  a  government,  it  is 
a  refuge  of  lies.  God  says  the  hail  shall  sweep  away 
the  refuge  of  lies ;  the  smashing  roused  the  people  as 
nothing  else  has  ever  done,  and  God  says :  "Your  cov 
enant  with  death  shall  be  disannulled,  and  your  agree 
ment  with  hell  shall  not  stand."  "When  the  overflow 
ing  scourge  (the  Prohibition  ballot),  shall  pass 
through,  then  ye  shall  be  trodden  down  by  it.  From 
the  time  that  it  goeth  forth  it  shall  take  you ;  for  morn 
ing  by  morning  shall  it  pass  over,  by  day  and  by  night ; 
and  it  shall  be  a  vexation  only  to  understand  the  re 
port."  (Isa.  28:18-19.)  This  means  the  morning  and 
evening  papers  that  carry  the  news  of  the  smashing 
around  the  world.  It  was  indeed  a  vexation  to  the  li 
quor,  traffic  to  "understand  the  report."  They^  had 
nothing  to  fear  from  the  old  parties,  but  they  were  not 
prepared  for  a  furious  woman  and  a  hatchet,  .(vs.  20.) 
"For  their  bed  is  shorter  than  that  a  man  can  stretch 
himself  on  it;  and  their  covering  narrower  than  that 
he  can  wrap  himself  up  in  it."  This  shows  dissatis 
faction  among  the  people.  The  bed  and  covering  does 
not  protect  them,  neither  does  the  government. 

When  I  was  in  Wichita  I  was  begging  some  women 
to  go  with  me  and  Sister  Lucy  Wilhoite  was  one  of 
them,  she  asked  God  for  direction  in  this  matter, 
.whether  I  was  called  of  God  to  do  this  or  not,  and 
God  pointed  her  to  the  54  chapter  of  Isaiah.  I  will 
repeat  the  last  two  verses  here :  "Behold,  I  have  creat 
ed  the  smith  that  bloweth  the  coals  in  the  fire,  and  that 
bringeth  forth  an  instrument  for  his  work ;  and  I  have 


172  THE   USE   AND    NEED   OF 

created  the  waster  to  destroy.  No  weapon  that  is 
formed  against  thee  shall  prosper ;  and  every  tongue 
that  shall  rise  against  thee  in  judgment  thou  shalt  con 
demn.  This  is  the  heritage  of  the  servants  of  the  Lord, 
and  their  righteousness  is  of  me,  saith  the  Lord." 
Here  is  the  hatchet  prophesied  and  here  is  the  protec 
tion  to  the  one  that  used  it,  and  here  is  condemnation 
against  the  one  that  condemns  it. 

THE  SECOND  TIME  IN   JAIL  AT  WICHITA. 

I  was  in  a  meeting  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  Wichita, 
of  which  Mrs.  Summers  was  president.  I  wanted  to 
have  these  women  go  with  me  and  destroy  the  places 
there  that  were  murdering  their  sons.  Many  present 
were  in  favor  of  it,  but  Mrs.  Summers  was  bitterly  op 
posed.  I  had  not  up  to  this  time  taken  a  hatchet  in 
my  work,  nor  did  I  do  so  until  I  reached  Sister  Evans' 
house,  just  before  starting  in  my  second  raid  in  Wich 
ita.  Three  went  out  in  the  hall  with  me,  Mrs.  Lucy 
Wilhoite,  Miss  Muntz  and  Mrs.  Julia  Evans.  The  hus 
band  of  the  latter  was  a  great  drunkard,  otherwise  a 
capable  physician.  Those  three  women  said  they 
would  go  with  me.  We  went  to  Mrs.  Evans'  home 
I  took  a  hatchet  and  Mrs.  Evans  carried  a  piece  of 
iron.  We  marched  down  to  the  first  place,  kept  by 
John  Burns.  We  walked  in  and  began  to  smash  right 
and  left.  With  my  hatchet  I  smashed  in  the  large  plate 
glass  windows  and  also  the  door.  Sister  Evans  and  I 
then  attacked  the  show  case,  went  behind  the  bar  and 
we  smashed  everything  in  sight.  The  bar-tender  came 
running  up  to  me  with  his  hands  up,  "Don't  come  near 


a    *° 

3  3 

>  g 


§  > 


3s 

o 

5  3 


g  3 


174  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

my  hatchet,  it  might  fall  on  you  and  I  will  not  be  re 
sponsible  for  the  results." 

After  we  were  through  for  no  one  resisted  us,  Mr. 
Burns  was  asked.  "Why  did  you  not  knock  that  wo 
man  dow'n?"  He  replied:  ''God  forbid  that  I  should 
strike  a  woman.'*'  ("A  man's  a  man  for  a'  that.") 

I  heard  Sister  Wilhoite  talking  to  the  crowd  and  tell 
ing  why  we  had  done  this. 

We  were  put  in  one  cell,  the  one  I  occupied  before 
and  were  given  a  cot  apiece.  This  was  one  of  the  glor 
ious  heavenly  and  refreshing  times.  We  sang  hymns, 
repeated  scripture,  would  often  laugh  and  cry  by  turns 
for  joy  to  think  we  were  worthy  to  suffer  for  His  sake. 
"The  table  was  prepared  before  us  in  the  presence  of 
our  enemies,  our  cup  runneth  over."  This  happy  con 
dition  was  not  what  our  persecutors  wished,  and  Mrs. 
Simmons  and  her  husband,  whom  we  called  "Jezebel" 
and  "Ahab,"  were  determined  to  separate  us. 

These  two  were  very  much  interested  in  having  me 
adjudged  insane,  for  Mr.  Simmons  had  in  several  ways 
laid  himself  liable  to  criminal  prosecution,  especially 
in  the  matter  of  the  quarantine.  Mrs.  Simmons  came 
to  our  cell  door,  and  in  the  presence  of  Sister  Wilhoite, 
to  whom  she  had  told  that  I  used  "obscene  language," 
I  asked  her  if  she  said  this?  She  had  to  acknowledge 
that  she  did.  I  told  her  she  spoke  a  "lie,"  for  I  had 
never  done  such  a  thing.  She  sent  her  husband  and 
son  up  to  the  cell  and  they  dragged  me  into  the  rotary 
and  put  me  in  one  of  those  little  triangular  cells,  which 
was  indeed  a  place  of  filth.  The  faucet  leaked,  and 
kept  a  continual  spatter,  which  made  my  cot  wet.  I 
stayed  there  five  days  and  while  it  was  not  as  bad  as 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  175 

Jeremiah's  dungeon,  it  was  similar.  The  dampness 
and  poison  of  this  cell  added  to  the  already  deep  cold 
on  my  lungs.  Dear  Bro.  Schollenberger !  Who  has 
not  heard  of  this  great  hearted  man  of  Wichita?  He 
brought  us  little  treats  and  in  many  ways  relieved  us. 
I  was  not  allowed  to  be  with  my  loving  sisters  again 
while  in  prison.  They  would  write  notes  and  send 
them  by  a  "trusty,"  for  they  were  very  uneasy  about 
me,  fearing  I  had  met  with  foul  play. 

As  soon  as  the  sisters  could  get  bail,  they  got  out, 
but  I  was  not  allowed  to  give  bond.  I  was  not  a  meek 
prisoner,  did  not  act  like  a  criminal.  This  vexed  my 
persecutors  and  they  tried  to  humble  me,  but  I  felt  that 
I  was  right  and  that  God  would  stand  by  me  and  I 
wanted  Him  to  look  down  and  always  find  me  brave 
and  true  and  "in  nothing  to  be  terrified  by  my  adver 
saries."  (Phil.  1:28.) 

I  had  some  money  sent  me  while  in  jail  and  this  I 
divided,  often  to  the  last,  with  my  fellow  prisoners. 
To  one  I  gave  four  dollars,  for  his  poor  wife  was  soon 
to  be  confined.  To  the  "trusty"  John,  I  gave  three  dol 
lars  for  his  destitute  wife,  and  often  bought  little 
treats,  such  as  fruits  and  butter.  The  meals  were  meat 
and  beans  one  day,  then  potatoes  and  meat  all  cooked 
up  into  a  mush.  I  became  very  much  attached  to  my 
fellow  prisoners  and  I  found  some  with  noble  senti 
ments.  What  do  people  do  who  have  no  hope  of  hea 
ven,  I  often  ask.  What  a  joy  to  have  a  place  in  view 
where  there  is  no  sickness,  no  death,  no  jails,  no  suf 
fering  of  any  kind. 

THE  THIRD  TIME  IN   TOPEKA  JAIL. 

I  had  become  so  disgusted  with  jail  food  that  my 


176  THE    USE   AND    NEED  OF 

stomach  refused  it.  As  soon  as  I  was  put  in  jail  I  told 
Mr.  Cook  to  send  the  milkman  to  my  cell.  He  came 
and  was  very  kind.  He  agreed  to  bring  me  some  bread 
and  milk,  ten  cents  worth  a  day.  This  I  lived  on  for 
the  eighteen  days.  In  the  cell  with  me  was  a  woman 
named  Mrs.  Mahanna,  who  was  put  in  for  selling  beer. 
She  did  not  happen  to  have  a  government  license. 
Poor  creature !  She  had  been  the  mother  of  fifteen 
children ;  had  a  broken  hip  caused  by  the  kick  of  a 
drunken  husband.  She  was  very  ignorant  but  kind- 
hearted.  The  heat  was  intense  and  we  were  next  to 
the  roof.  Sometimes  I  would  feel  as  if  I  was  suffocat 
ing.  The  windows  slanted  so  that  but  little  air  came 
in.  One  pane  of  glass  was  partly  out  and  we  would 
sit  by  that  to  get  a  breath  of  air.  While  in  this  jail  I 
had  many  offers  from  different  theatrical,  circus,  and 
museum  managers,  who  tried  to  tempt  me  with  all 
kinds  of  offers ;  one  as  high  as  $800  a  week,  and  a 
palace  car  and  a  maid.  I  never  for  one  moment 
thought  of  taking  any  of  them  until  two  managers 
came  from  New  York  City.  The  sheriff,  Mr.  Cook, 
brought  their  cards  up.  I  said :  "Tell  them  to  wait 
until  morning."  I  prayed  over  the  matter  nearly  all 
night  and  before  day  all  seemed  settled.  (This  was  a 
test  to  try  my  faith.)  The  cloud  was  lifted  and  I  told 
Mr.  Cook  to  tell  the  men  that  a  "million  a  minute 
would  not  catch  me."  My  dear  friends  especially  Mrs. 
Goodwin,  Dr.  Eva  Harding  and  others  used  their  in 
fluence  to  have  Stanley,  the  governor  pardon  me,  this 
he  refused  to  do,  the  joint-keepers  were  those  he  fav 
ored. 

I  had  never  thought  of  going  before  the  public  as  a 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  177 

lecturer.  I  knew  those  people  only  wanted  me  as  they 
would  a  white  elephant.  I  did  not,  at  this  time,  see 
the  stage  as  a  missionary  field. 

At  this  time  I  was  entirely  out  of  money,  I  was  in 
debt  and  the  dunning  letters  I  got  while  in  jail  were 
a  terrible  trouble  to  me.  The  ten  cents  I  paid  for  my 
bread  and  milk  came  in  almost  daily  for  copies  of  my 
papers.  I  paid  my  milkman  sometimes  in  stamps. 

I  never  wanted  to  get  out  of  jail  so  badly  in  my  life, 
as  I  did  at  this  time,  when  the  offers  of  engagements 
were  so  many.  Two  days  after  the  New  York  man 
agers  were  there,  I  got  a  letter  from  James  E.  Fur 
long,  a  Lyceum  Manager  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  who 
had  managed  Patti  and  many  of  the  great  singers.  He 
told  me  if  I  would  give  him  "some  dates,"  he  would 
assist  me  in  getting  out  of  jail.  I  hardly  knew  what 
he  meant  by  "dates."  Mrs.  Goodwin  of  Topeka,  called 
to  see  me,  I  showed  the  letter  to  her  and  asked  what 
this  man  meant  by  "dates?"  She  said:  "He  may  want 
you  to  lecture  and  tell  of  your  experiences." 

"I  wonder  if  the  people  would  like  to  hear  me,"  I 
said.  I  asked  her  to  tell  Mr.  Duminel,  my  lawyer,  to 
come  to  my  cell.  I  told  him  of.  it,  and  he  said  he  would 
call  the  commissioners  together  and  would  have  them 
let  me  out  by  paying  my  fines  by  monthly  installments. 
This  he  did.  In  about  a  week  from  that  I  spoke  at 
Atlantic  City  for  the  Philadelphia  American,  the  pro 
ceeds  being  used  to  give  the  poor  children  an  outing. 
Thousands  of  people  were  present.  I  never  made  a 
note  or  wrote  a  sentence  for  the  platform  in  my  life. 
I  have  spoken  extemporaneously  from  the  first  and 
often  went  on  the  platform  when  I  could  not  have  told 


178  THE  USE  AND  NEED  OF 

what  I  was  to  say,  and  for  several  weeks  God  com 
pelled  me  to  open  my  Bible  at  random  and  speak  from 
what  my  eyes  fell  on.  I  have  literally  proved  that: 
"You  shall  not  think  of  what  you  shall  speak,  but  it 
shall  be  given  in  that  same  hour."  The  best  thoughts 
have  come  to  me  after  being  asleep,  waking  in  the  night 
or  in  the  morning.  He  visiteth  me  in  the  night  season. 
Dr.  Eva  Harding  and  Mrs.  Goodwin  went  my  bond 
and  also  collected  seventy  dollars  to  help  me  to  pay 
some  debts  so  I  could  fill  the  dates.  I  had  to  rush  mat 
ters  in  order  to  get  my  clothes  together  and  other 
things  fixed  for  this  long  journey  to  Clarksburg,  Ohio, 
where  I  was  to  speak  at  a  chautauqua.  I  did  not  stop 
for  dinner  or  supper,  got  to  the  Union  depot  in  time  to 
catch  the  mid-night  train.  When  I  went  to  purchase 
my  ticket  I  lacked  just  fifty  cents;  I  had  never  begged, 
but  there  I  was,  train  would  leave  in  a  short  time  and 
I  would  miss  my  date.  The  man  at  the  fruit  stand  was 
locking  up  his  booth  and  I  went  to  him  with  fear  and 
trembling,  asked  him  to  loan  me  fifty  cents,  which  he 
did.  I  got  my  ticket  and  took  my  train  in  time,  was 
very  faint  from  work  and  from  lack  of  food.  I  had 
lived  on  five  cents  worth  of  bread  and  five  cents  worth 
of  milk  each  day  for  eighteen  days  and  I  would  not 
spend  anything  before  I  purchased  my  ticket,  but 
I  had  not  a  penny  to  get  me  even  a  cracker.  The 
next  morning  I  tried  to  rise  from  my  seat  to  get  a 
drink  but  everything  would  become  dark  and  I 
found  I  would  faint.  The  fasting  and  excitement  had 
told  on  my  strength.  I  was  wondering  what  I  would 
do  when  a  dear  sweet  faced  woman  turned  to  me  and 
said:  "Will  vou  have  a  lunch?"  I  answered  her  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION. 

best  I  could,  I  certainly  was  overcome  with  gratitude, 
the  lunch  seemed  manna  from  heaven.  Nice  beaten 
biscuit  sandwiches.  I  wish  I  knew  who  she  was,  and 
I  wish  she  knew  who  she  gave  this  lunch  to.  God  said 
He  would  "stand  by  me, '  and  here  are  the  proofs. 

I  was  speaking  in  the  street  near  the  postoffice  in 
Topeka,  one  afternoon  and  a  man  ran  out' from  a  candy 
store  and  said:  "Carry  here  are  some  little  hatchets,, 
you  sell  them  to  this  crowd  and  you  can  pay  your  costs 
and  fines  this  month."  The  hatchets  were  little  worth 
less,  pewter  things,  but  the  crowd  seemed  crazy  for 
them.  This  gave  me  an  idea.  Since  that  time  the  lit 
tle  hatchets  have  been  my  faithful  little  defenders,  they 
have  paid  railroad  fares,  hotel  bills,  they  aided  me  in 
paying  for  the  home  for  drunkards'  wives,  besides  they 
are  my  little  messengers.  They  cause  the  people  to 
talk,  to  think,  to  act.  They  carry  a  message  with  them, 
it  is  the  heart  of  the  mother  crying,  "Carry  A.  Nation 
for  my  baby,  for  my  loved  ones,  Carry  A.  Nation 
against  the  saloons."  Never  was  there  a  greater  ad 
vertisement  of  a  great  cause.  God  has  blest  the  mis 
sion  of  the  hatchet.  I  tell  mothers  to  get  these  little 
hatchets,  put  them  on  their  boys  and  girls  clothes. 
With  these  hatchets  goes  the  facts  of  my  life  which 
will  be  an  inspiration  to  the  heart  of  the  young. 

The  summer  of  1902  I  was  at  Coney  Island,  speak 
ing  in  Steeple-Chase  Park,  and  a  man  was  very  insult 
ing  to  me,  and  always  took  occasion  to  say  something 
against  'women.  I  can  scarcely  remember  how  it  was,, 
but  I  broke  or  smashed  his  show  case  of  cigars  and 
cigarettes.  I  knew  I  would  have  to  pay  for  it,  but  I 
did  not  mind  paying  for  the  object  lesson  that  it  would 


180  THE    USE   AND    NEED   OF 

be.  for  tobacco  is  a  poison,  and  the  use  of  it  is  a  vice. 
I  was  arrested,  stood  my  trial  and  was  being  sent  to 
jail,  when  Mr.  Tilyou,  Manager  of  Steeple-Chase 
Park,  took  me  from  the  "Black  Maria."  The  police 
man  who  had  the  prisoners  in  charge  was  purple  and 
bloated  from  beer  drinking,  he  wanted  me  to  go  in  a 
place  in  the  front  that  was  already  crowded  with  wo 
men.  I  refused  and  he  struck  me  on  the  hand  that  was 
holding  to  the  iron  bars  of  the  little  window  and  broke 
a  bone,  causing  it  to  swell  up.  I  said:  "Never  mind, 
you  beer-swelled,  whiskey-soaked  saturn  faced  man, 
God  will  strike  you/'  In  six  weeks  from  that  time  this 
man  fell  dead  on  the  streets  of  Coney  Island.  This 
was  the  first  time  I  every  had  handcuffs  on.  I  saw  in 
this  experience  in  Police  Courts  in  Coney  Island  what 
I  never  saw  before,  eight  or  ten  women  sentenced  for 
drunkenness ;  one  the  mother  of  five  children,  and  the 
others  nice  looking  young  women,  and  most  of  them 
were  weeping.  When  they  received  their  sentences 
there  would  be  a  smothered  laugh  from  the  audience  of 
bloated  men  present,  and  I  turned  and  said :  "Shame  on 
you,  for  laughmg  at  the  sorrows  of  these  poor  wo 
men."  I  thought  how  heartless  it  was  for  men  to  laugh 
at  the  disgrace  of  women.  I  got  out  by  paying  for  the 
destruction  of  the  cigar  case. 

I  was  very  successful  and  made  enough  money  to 
pay  $125  a  month  to  have  my  SMASHER'S  MAIL  pub 
lished  in  the  form  of  a  magazine,  but  having  no  one 
in  Topeka  that  could  edit  the  magazine,  and  do  justice 
to  me,  I  returned  and  closed  up  the  business.  I  have 
made  a  lot  of  money,  tried  to  use  it  to  further  the  cause 
of  the  people,  but  I  have  made  some  sad  failures  to  get 
the  results  I  paid  for. 


CHAPTER  X. 

LEGAL   STATUS   OF   PROHIBITION    AND   JOINT   SMASHING. 

The  very  highest  judicial  authority,  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  Nation,  has  made  a  most  radical  ruling, 
to  wit:  "No  legislature  can  bargain  away  the  public 
health  or  the  public  morals.  The  people  themselves 
cannot  do  it,  much  less  their  servants.  Government 
is  organized  with  a  view  to  their  preservation  and  can 
not  divest  itself  of  the  power  to  provide  for  them."- 
101  U.  S.  816. 

No  state,  therefore,  can  license  or  legalize  immoral 
ity,  vice  or  crime.  All  such  efforts  are  treason  to  so 
ciety  and  organized  government. 

Again,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  has 
declared:  "If  the  public  safety  or  the  public  morals 
require  the  discontinuance  of  any  manufacture  or  traf 
fic,  the  hand  of  the  legislature  cannot  be  stayed  from 
providing  for  its  discontinuance,  by  any  incidental  in 
convenience  which  individuals  or  corporations  may 
suffer."— 97  U.  S.  32.  Thus  the  legislature  of  any 
state  can  confiscate  property  by  wholesale  if  necessary 
for  the  protection  of  the  community.  Powder  mills, 
slaughter  houses  and  pest  houses,  necessary  institu 
tions,  are  frequently  so  condemned  and  rendered  abso 
lutely  worthless. 

There  is  not  a  lawful  saloon  in  the  world.  Law  is 
as  eternal  and  unchangeable  as  God  himself,  who  says 
that,  "Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law."  (I  John 
3:4.)  Anything  that  is  sinful  cannot  be  lawful,  and 


182  THE   USE  AND    NEED  OF 

anything  that  is  lawful  cannot  be  sinful.  The  saloon 
is  not  lawful  because  it  is  sinful.  Blackstone's  defini 
tion  of  law  is  this,  ''Law  is  a  rule  of  action  prescribed 
by  the  supreme  power  of  the  state,  commanding  that 
which  is  right  and  prohibiting  that  which  is  wrong." 
We  should  not  send  men  to  Congress  to  make  law,  law 
is  already  made,  it  is  that  men  may  find  out  what  law 
is  and  see  that  it  is  enforced.  Saloons  are  unconstitu 
tional.  Our  forefathers  gave  us  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  which  is  a  guarantee  to  the  people 
to  make  perfect  union,  "domestic  tranquillity,"  "com 
mon  good"  and  "public  defence."  A  saloon  destroys 
every  one  of  these  guarantees.  It  is  treason  to  enforce 
law  that  prohibits  crime  and  at  the  same  time  licenses 
saloons  that  would  prohibit  law  from  prohibiting 
crime.  ( 

There  are  just  two  great  spiritual  leaders  of  the  hu 
man  family.  Humanity  will  be  the  servant  of  one  or 
the  other.  God  made  man  and  is  the  Creator  of  all 
things.  He  says:  "I  make  peace  and  create  evil." 
(Isa.  45:7.) 

We  would  never  have  had  any  use  for  law  if  there 
was  no  possibility  of  sinning.  We  would  never  have 
had  an  opportunity  to  show  our  loyalty  to  God  if  it  was 
not  possible  to  be  disloyal.  There  wras  a  tree  in  the 
midst  of  the  Garden  that  God  forbade  Adam  to  eat 
of,  this  tree  was  some  kind  of  lust,  the  Devil  by  false 
hood  and  cunning,  made  the  woman  believe  that  God 
had  told  her  a  lie.  Made  her  believe  the  fruit  was 
"good  for  food,"  that  it  was  "pleasant  to  the  eye,"  and 
a  tree  to  be  "desired  to  make  one  wise ;"  and  she  and 
Adam  broke  this  first  law  that  God  had  given  to  man- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  183 

kind.  Whatever  this  tree  was,  it  changed  their  pure 
natures  into  one  that  was  conscious  of  sin.  The  very 
effect  of  this  sin  upon  their  natures  would  lead  us  to 
infer  that  their  genital  organs  were  involved,  for  these 
were  covered  for  the  first  time.  In  this  Paradise  the 
Devil  was  the  author  of  this  sin  as  he  had  been  in  hea 
ven  and  in  the  war  with  Michael  and  the  angels  he  was 
beaten  and  they  were  hurled  over  the  battlements.  He 
fell  upon  the  earth.  We  cannot  say  when  this  was 
but  we  find  him  still  the  implacable  foe  of  God's  works. 
He  accomplished  his  purpose  in  causing  our  parents 
to  sin,  all  sin  is  the  breaking  of  God's  Word.  God  is 
the  law  giver.  The  enmity  between  God  and  man  is 
always  the  result  of  sin,  as  in  the  case  of  God  and 
Adam  and  Cain  and  Abel.  Anarchy  is  the  reverse  of 
law.  The  seeds  are  children  of  law  and  anarchy  be 
gun  from  these.  Their  crowds  have  been  increasing 
as  trie  centuries  go  by.  God  has  His  crowd  and  the 
Devil  has  his,  and  every  man  and  woman  is  in  one  or 
the  other.  The  question  is  often  asked,  "Why  did  God 
make  the  Devil,"  or  "Why  does  God  allow  the  Devil 
to  live,"  or  "Why  is  there  such  a  thing  as  sin  ?"  There 
was  war  in  heaven  once,  of  course  there  was  sin  there. 
God  says  that  nothing  that  defileth  or  maketh  a  lie 
shall  ever  enter  there  again,  and  to  prevent  any  trouble 
of  this  kind,  He  must  have  people  prepared.  This  earth 
is  God's  laboratory,  the  Devil  is  his  fire,  we  are  the 
metal.  Job  says:  "He  knoweth  the  way  that  I  take, 
when  He  has  tried  me  I  shall  come  forth  as  gold."  (Job 
23:10.)  David  said:  "Thou  hast  tried  us  as  silver  is 
tried."  (Ps.  12:6.)  James  says:  "Count  it  all  joy 
when  you  fall  into  divers  temptations  (trials.")  Peter 


184  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

says :  "The  trial  of  your  faith  being  much  more  prec 
ious  than  of  gold  that  perisheth,  though  it  be  tried 
with  fire,  might  be  found  unto  praise  and  honor  and 
glory  at  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ."  (1  Peter  1 :7.) 
Could  the  chemical  prepare  the  gold  for  us  and  beau 
tify  it  without  the  fire.  So  God  is  using  the  Devil  to 
purify  us  for  use  and  beauty  and  pleasure  in  heaven. 
Should  God  allow  an  impure  soul  to  get  into  heaven 
there  would  be  sin  there,  besides  were  there  no  Devil 
to  tempt  us  how  could  we  show  God  that  we  are 
wrorthy  of  heaven.  What  credit  would  we  have  as  an 
over-comer  if  there  was  nothing  to  over-come?  Life 
is  a  battle  in  which  we  will  win  or  loose.  It  depends 
upon  our  fighting  sin,  which  will  give  us  victory  over 
sin. 

Politics  is  a  science  of  government,  therefore  God 
was  the  first  politician.  He  governs  the  human  family 
by  restraining  and  prohibiting  sin  that  will  enslave 
and  kill  the  soul.  The  Devil  is  a  politician  also,  his 
policies  are  to  bring  slavery  and  death. 

Obedience  to  law  is  man's  strength,  his  royalty  that 
made  him  like  God.  The  Devil  and  his  crowd  have 
ever  been  an  enemy  to  law  as  he  was  from  the  begin 
ning.  He  persuaded  the  first  pair  to  take  license  to 
sin,  promising  them  a  deceitful  revenue,  so  he  does 
now.  "He  tempts  through  the  lust  of  the  eye,  the  lust 
of  the  flesh  and  the  pride  of  life."  (1  John  2:16.) 

God  thundered  prohibition  from  Mt.  Sinai,  and, 
"thou  shalt  not"  is  at  the  door  of  every  man's  con 
science.  Heaven  is  the  result  of  man's  obedience  to 
God.  Prohibition  law,  and  hell  is  the  doom  of  the  li 
cense  crowd.  Our  revolutionary  fathers  were  prohibi- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  185 

tionists,  and  would  not  submit  to  the  unjust  and  unlaw 
ful  authority  of  King  George.  They  smashed  the  tea 
and  went  to  war  against  tremendous  odds,  but  God  was 
with  them  and  they  smashed  loose  from  Anarchy. 

In  1862  when  the  saloon  was  licensed  by  the  Repub 
lican  Congress  at  Washington,  the  halls  of  hell  rang 
v/ith  a  song-  of  triumph.  The  conspiracy  against  pros 
perity  and  happiness,  domestic  tranquillity  and  public 
defence  was  no  longer  a  guarantee.  All  these  were 
gone,  and  the  reign  of  death  began,  until  now  it  is  not 
possible  to  count  or  measure  the  ruin,  but  God  lives 
and  rules. 

It  is  not  only  the  privilege  of  the  patriotic  citizen  to 
abate  a  dangerous  nuisance  but  it  is  commendable. 
Bishop  on  Criminal  Law,  paragraph  1081,  says :  "This 
doctrine  (of  abatement  of  a  public  nuisance  by  an  in 
dividual)  is  an  expression  of  the  better  instincts  of  our 
natures,  which  lead  men  to  watch  over  and  shield  one 
another  from  harm." 

1  Bishop's  Criminal  Law  828 ;  1  Hilliard  on  Torts, 
605. 

"At  common  law  it  was  always  the  right  of  a  citizen, 
without  official  authority,  to  abate  a  public  nuisance, 
and  without  waiting  to  have  it  adjudged  such  by  legal 
tribunal.  His  right  to  do  so  depended  upon  the  fact 
of  its  being  a  nuisance. 

In  abating  it,  property  may  be  destroyed,  and  the 
owner  deprived  of  it  without  trial, without  notice  and 
without  compensation.  Such  destruction  for  public 
safety  or  health  is  not  a  taking  of  private  property  for 
public  uses  without  compensation,  or  due  process  of 
law,  in  the  sense  of  the  constitution.  It  is  simply  the 


186  THE   USE   AND    NEED   OF 

prevention  of  its  noxious  and  unlawful  use,  and  de 
pends  upon  the  principle  that  every  man  must  so  use 
his  property  as  not  to  injure  his  neighbors,  and  that 
the  safety  of  the  public  is  the  paramount  law.  These 
principles  are  legal  maxims  or  axioms  essential  to  the 
existence  of  regulated  society.  Written  constitutions 
pre-suppose  them,  are  subordinate  to  them,  and  can 
not  set  them  aside." 

Judge  Baker  sums  up  the  case  thus:  "The  women 
who  destroyed  such  property  are  not  criminals.  They 
have  the  same  right  to  abate  such  common  nuisances 
as  men  have  to  defend  their  persons  or  domiciles  when 
unlawfully  assailed.  As  the  women  of  that  state  are 
denied  the  right  to  vote  or  hold  office,  I  think  they  are 
fully  justified,  morally  and  legally,  in  protecting  their 
homes,  their  families,  and  themselves  from  the  ravages 
of  these  demons  of  vice  in  the  summary  manner  which 
the  law  permits." 

By  Bible  authority  and  by  the  common  law  of  our 
land  I  have  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  who  will 
see  the  right,  that  I  am  a  loyal  American,  a  loving 
Home  Defender,  doing  the  will  of  Him  whom  I  serve 
and  whose  I  am. 


CHAPTER  XL 

MY   TRIAL   FOR   DIVORCE. THE   LICENSED   RUM    TRAFFIC 

THE  CAUSE  OF  SO  MANY  DIVORCES. DIFFERENT  TIMES 

AND  PLACES  I  HAVE  BEEN  IN  JAIL. AT  THE  CAPITOL 

OF  CALIFORNIA. WIDE  OPEN  TREASON. AT  THE  UNI 
VERSITY   OF   TEXAS. WOOLLEY   CLUB   AT   ANN    ARBOR, 

MICHIGAN. CATHOLIC    PRIEST   AND   CIGARETTES. 

One  of  the  greatest  sorrows  at  this  time  was  my 
husband  getting  a  divorce  from  me ;  we  had  lived  to 
gether  twenty-four  years.  We  never  agreed  on  but 
few  tilings,  but  I  never  thought  we  would  come  to  a 
separation.  He  said  to  me,  "You  will  have  to  stop  and 
come  back  to  Medicine  Lodge  or  I  will  get  a  divorce 
from  you."  I  said:  "Mr.  Nation,  God  has  given  me  a 
mission,  I  dare  not  turn  back.  Shall  I  hearken  unto 
God  or  unto  man  ?  Judge  ye."  I  begged  him  not  to 
bring  this  reproach  on  me  that  it  would  hinder  my 
work,  but  he  was  over  persuaded  by  other  parties  and 
he  served  the  papers  on  me  when  I  was  in  jail.  The 
good  people  of  Medicine  Lodge  were  shocked  by  these 
proceedings  and  came  to  court  and  testified  of  their 
own  free  will  of  my  duties  as  a  wife.  There  was  not 
a  witness  to  deny  it.  Mr.  Nation  got  his  divorce  on 
the  ground  of  desertion.  He  claimed  cruelty  and  de 
sertion.  I  said  I  could  never  afterwards  live  with  him 
as  his  wife.  I  got  the  home  which  I  sold  for  eight 
hundred  dollars.  I  said  I  would  not  put  any  of  that 
money  in  fines,  but  would  lay  it  up  in  heaven.  I  made 
the  first  payment  on  the  home  for  drunkards'  wives 


188  THE  USE  AND   NEED  OF 

with  this  check.  Since  that  time  I  have  paid  seven- 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars  ($7,500)  on  the  pur 
chase  of  that  home,  and  have  presented  it  to  the  Asso 
ciated  Charities  in  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  to  be  used 
forever  as  a  home  for  drunkards'  wives.  I  desire  to 
see  this  home  in  the  hands  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  the 
state  of  Kansas,  believing  that  no  one  can  make  it  as 
useful  as  they  can. 

We  hear,  "A  woman's  place  is  at  home."  That  is 
true,  but  what  and  where  is  home.  Not  the  walls  of 
a  house.  Not  furniture,  food  or  clothes.  Home  is 
where  the  heart  is,  where  our  loved  ones  are.  If  my 
son  is  in  a  drinking  place,  my  place  is  there.  If  my 
daughter,  or  the  daughter  of  any  one  else,  my  family 
or  any  other  family  is  in  trouble,  my  place  is  there. 
That  woman  would  be  selfish  or  cowardly  who  would 
refuse  to  leave  her  home  to  relieve  suffering  or  trouble. 
Jesus  said :  "Go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges." 
He  said  this  to  women,  as  well  as  men.  If  the  wo 
men  of  Galilee  had  not  left  their  homes  they  would  not 
have  followed  Jesus.  If  Phoebe  had  not  left  her  home, 
she  would  not  have  gone  on  the  business  of  the  church 
to  Jerusalem.  We  would  have  no  woman  missionaries 
— women  now,  are  forced  to  go  out  to  save  the  home. 

D.  L.  Moody  once  said,  a  saying  which  I  hardly  un 
derstood  at  the  time :  "When  a  wife  knew  that  the  man 
that  should  be  her  husband  was  unfaithful  and  corrupt, 
she  was  as  bad  as  he  if  she  continued  to  live  with  him." 
I  have  thought  much  of  the  meaning  of  the  name  hus 
band.  A  husband  is  a  man  who  provides  for  and  loves 
his  family,  as  much  as  it  is  in  his  power  to  do,  but 
when  he  refuses  and  will  not  do  this,  he  breaks  his 


190  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

marriage  vow  and  becomes  his  wife's  enemy.  A  true 
husband  is  not  an  enemy.  This  will  place  many  wo 
men  in  the  roll  of  living  with  men  who  are  not  their 
husbands,  and  this  is  so.  I  do  not  favor  divorce,  but 
it  is  better  for  husband  and  wife  to  separate,  than  to 
continue  to  bring  into  the  world  children  born  of  a 
drunken  or  licentious  father.  This  would  be  aiding 
the  propagation  of  sin,  and  the  spreading  of  disease 
its  result.  There  is  nothing  which  is  making  so  much 
enmity  between  the  sexes  as  intoxicating  drink.  This 
is  the  cause  of  so  many  divorces.  Men  who  go  into 
saloons  generally  visit  houses  of  prostitution.  The 
women  they  meet  there  have  been  deceived  and  lost 
their  self  respect,  become  discouraged  because  men 
have  made  them  their  victims  through  treachery,  and 
in  turn  these  women  revenge  themselves  by  taking  all 
means  to  drag  men  down.  Prostitutes  do  not  like 
men ;  they  often  hate  them.  The  man  who  goes  there 
generally  loses  respect  for  the  virtues  of  women,  and 
from  associating  with  bad  women  they  judge  all  wo 
men  to  be  vile.  These  men  hate  the  very  women  they 
go  to  see.  Married  men  who  drink  are  bad  husbands/ 
for  they  deceive  their  wives,  who  soon  find  it  out ;  and 
the  husbands  and  wives  cannot  be  happy.  A  woman 
leaves  all  others  for  one  man  and  she  longs  for  his  so 
ciety.  In  the  evening  the  clubs  and  drinking  places 
and  lodges  take  up  men's  time  when  their  families 
should  have  it.  These  things  destroy  love  and  con 
fidence  between  husbands  and  wives.  'Tis  not  all  men's 
fault,  for  there  are  many  drinking  women. 

A  man  came  to  me  just  before  I  went  on  the  stage 
at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  and  said :  "Carry  Nation, 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  191 

step  aside  here,  I  must  speak  to  you.  I  am  in  so  much 
trouble.  Give  me  some  advice.  My  wife  is  at  home 
drunk;  she  is  that  way  most  of  the  time.  We  have 
six  children  and  they  feel  disgraced.  What  can  I  do? 
I  am  almost  wild." 

I  asked :  "Did  you  ever  drink  with  your  wife  ?" 

He  looked  confused.  I  said :  "Women  do  not  usual 
ly  go  to  saloons  but  you  men  bring  it  home  and  use 
it  on  the  table  and  women  are  just  as  apt  to  catch  the 
disease  of  alcoholism  as  men.  This  may,  be  the  way 
your  wife  learned  to  be  a  drunkard.  Wives,  have  been 
nursing  their  drunken  husbands  for  years ;  now  the 
chickens  have  come  home  to  roost,  and  you  are  nurs 
ing  your  druken  wife." 

Poor  man !  I  comforted  him  all  I  could.  He,  in 
deed,  seemed  distracted ;  and  he  is  not  alone,  there  are 
hundreds  of  cases. 

I  met  a  lovely  creature  on  the  train,  who  had  been 
married  a  few  months.  Her  husband  was  a  lumber 
merchant  in  Chicago.  She  sat  by  me  and  told  me  her 
sad  story.  She  had  been  a  poor  girl  and  dearly  loved 
a  man  whose  mother  opposed  the  match  and  prevent 
ed  the  marriage.  The  young  lumber  merchant,  left 
rich  by  the  death  of  his  father,  proposed  and  she  mar 
ried  him.  In  a  month,  the  mother  of  the  man  she 
loved  first,  died  and  the  obstacle  was  removed.  In 
telling  me  this  story  I  smelled  liquor  on  her  breath. 
She  would  say  a  few  sentences  and  then  say:  "Oh, 
Carry  Nation  I  am  so  miserable !  If  Charlie  would 
only  be  true  to  me  I  would  not  grieve  for  the  man  I 
loved,  but  Charlie  drinks  and  he  goes  with  other  wo 
men,  and  leaves  me  alone.  He  gives  me  all  the  money 


102  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

I  want.  I  have  everything  that  money  can  buy ;  but, 
Oh !  I  almost  hate  these  things !  I  would  rather  have 
a  hut  with  some  one  to  love  me."  She  kept  talking  this 
way  until  it  was  enough  to  break  my  heart.  She  said : 
"Charlie  will  be  in  from  the  smoking  car,  and  please 
Mrs.  Nation  speak  to  him.  I  want  to  be  a  good  wife 
and  I  will  do  all  I  can  to  make  him  a  good  man.  But 
he  laughs  at  me  when  I  talk  to  him,  he  never  takes  me 
in  earnest.  Go  speak  to  him." 

So  I  did.  I  found  him  to  be  a  young  man  about 
twenty-three,  with  the  marks  of  dissipation  on  his 
face.  I  said :  "I  have  something  to  say  to  you  private 
ly.  You  have  a  beautiful  young  wife.  If  you  wish  to 
make  her  happy  you  can  do  so.  There  is  one  thing 
that  will  ruin  the  happiness  of  both.  That  is  intoxi 
cating  drink.  Did  you  know  your  wife  is  under  the 
influence  of  some  drug?"  He  said:  "Oh,  don't  say  a 
word  to  her  about  that,  I  am  the  cause  of  it.  I  drink 
and  have -persuaded  her  to,  because  she  has  a  right  to 
do  what  I  do." 

I  told  him  of  the  fatal  results  and  asked  him  to  quit 
or  it  would  be  the  ruin  of  both.  Here  were  these  two 
on  the  brink  of  ruin,  so  young,  so  attractive.  I  never 
shall  forget  the  pathos  of  that  woman's  story.  The 
yearning  of  that  heart  for  love.  In  her  unhappiness 
she  would  turn  to  the  benumbing  fascination  of  the 
poisonous  drug. 

On  every  hand  I  see  the  desolation  of  homes  and 
hearts.  There  are  no  five  things  that  make  so  much 
enmity  between  the  sexes  as  this  one — the  licensed  sa 
loon.  The  home  life  is  destroyed.  Men  and  boys  are 
taken  from  home  at  the  very  time  they  ought  to  be 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  193 

there,  after  their  work  is  done.  Families  should  gather 
in  the  evening  to  enjoy  each  other's  society.  It  is  said 
that  Germans  are  the  crudest  husbands  on  earth.  Their 
beer  gardens  have  taken  the  place  of  firesides.  There 
are  more  insane  and  suicides  in  Germany  than  any  na 
tion  on  earth.  Alcoholism  is  a  disease.  Men  go  to 
the  Keele>  cure  and  take  different  treatments  to  get 
cured.  This  disease  is  killing  more  every  year  than 
the  deadliest  epidemic,  and  still  not  one  of  the  senators 
or  representatives  will  discuss  this.  Roosevelt  toured 
this  country  moralizing  on  different  questions.  He 
wished  to  reproach  women  for  not  raising  larger  fam 
ilies.  What  protection  has  a  mother  if  she  does  ?  She 
has  to  produce  the  grist  to  make  these  murder-mills 
grind,  and  I  for  one,  say  to  women,  refuse  to  be  moth 
ers,  if  the  government  will  not  close  these  murder- 
shops  that  are  preying  on  our  hearts,  for  our  darling 
sons  are  dearer  to  us  than  life. 

If  I  had  a  family  to  raise  and  had  to  live  in  a  city, 
I  know  of  no  place  as  desirable  as  Topeka.  A  wife 
said  to  her  husband,  ''Let  us  take  our  boy  and  go  to 
Topeka."  So  they  came.  The  husband  was  D.  L. 
Whitney,  manager  of  the  Square  Deal  Realty  Co.,  of 
Topeka,  Kansas,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  have  been 
a  great  help  to  me.  I  say  to  fathers  and  mothers^ 
move  to  Kansas,  where  your  sons  are  taught  that  it 
takes  a  sneak  to  sell,  and  a  sneak  to  drink,  intoxicating 
liquors  in  that  state. 

I  was  arrested  in  Topeka  for  going  into  the  dives. 
The  officials  were  determined  to  keep  them  open,  and 
the  police  arrested  me  for  even  going  in.  They  did  not 
arrest  the  keepers.  I  was  thrown  out  and  called  names 


194  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

by  the  proprietors,  in  the  hearing  of  the  police,  still 
they  were  let  go.  This  was  during  the  time  that 
Parker  was  mayor. 

The  voting  citizens  of  Kansas  will  soon  find  out  that 
no  one  but  prohibition  officers  can  be  trusted  to  en 
force  prohibition  statutes.  I  am  glad  at  the  present 
writing  there  is  said  to  be  not  a  dive  in  the  beautiful 
cky  of  Topeka,  and  that  she  has  passed  the  Rubicon. 
God  grant  that  no  more  criminal  dens  be  opened  by 
Republicans,  Democrats  or  any  other  Anarchists. 

I  was  arrested  in  Wheeling,  West  Virginia,  winter 
of  1902,  for  going  in  a  saloon  and  telling  the  man  he 
was  in  a  business  that  would  send  him  to  hell  as  well 
as  his  customers.  The  facts  are  that  the  police  never 
knew  what  I  was  going  to  do  and  they  were  so  fright 
ened  and  rattled  that  they  of  course  thought  they 
would  arrest  me  to  prevent  trouble.  I  have  been  a 
terror  to  evil  doers.  I  was  in  jail  there  two  nights. 
No  pillow.  The  bed  bugs  bad.  Col  Arnett,  my  law 
yer,  said  I  had  a  good  case  of  malicious  prosecution. 
I  have  begun  several  suits,  but  the  "laws's  delay"  and 
the  condition  of  dishonest  courts  have  prevented  me. 

I  was  arrested  in  Bayonne,  N.  J.,  because  I  was  try 
ing  to  aid  a  poor  drunkard's  wife  to  get  her  husband 
to  go  home  with  her.  A  policeman  came  up  and  or 
dered  me  to  "walk  on."  I  said:  "I  have  a  right  to 
speak  to  any  one  on  the  street."  He  said:  "I  will 
arrest  you  if  you  do  not  move  on."  I  said:  "You  do 
not  wish  this  poor  man  to  have  one  warning  word  to 
keep  him  out  of  a  drunkard's  hell."  He  arrested  me, 
took  me  to  the  police  headquarters,  where  I  was  sen 
tenced  for  disturbing  the  peace.  I  was  put  in  a  cell 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  195 

with  a  hard  board,  no  cover.  There  were  only  two 
other  prisoners,  both  put  there  for  getting  drunk. 
The  partition  door  was  by  accident  left  unlocked  and 
I  heard  some  one  creeping,  looked  up  and  there  .was 
one  of  the  poor  creatures  in  my  cell.  I  called  loudly. 
He  ran  back.  The  turnkey  came  and  fastened  the 
door.  All  night  through  I  was  handing  water  to  these 
poor  creatures.  The  bed  bugs  were  thick  and  they 
kept  me  quite  busy  knocking  them  out  of  my  face.  I 
lay  on  the  plank  but  could  not  sleep  a  wink.  Next 
morning  I  was  called  in  court.  That  police  officer  in 
order  to  make  it  a  case  of  disturbing  the  peace  said 
there  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  people  around.  There 
was  but  five  and  I  so  testified.  I  never  have  seen  such' 
false  swearing  as  there  is  with  the  police.  Got  a  fine 
of  ten  dollars.  Of  course  this  judge  was  a  republican. 

I  have  been  arrested:  In  Wichita  three  times;  sen 
tenced  December,  1900,  thirty  days ;  January  21st, 
1901,  twenty-one  days  and  January  22nd  two  days. 
Topeka,  seven  times ;  once  thirty  days ;  twice  each 
eighteen  days;  then  twelve  days;  fifteen  days,  seven 
days  and  three  days ;  Kansas  City  once,  part  of  a  day ; 
Coney  Island  once,  part  of  a  day ;  Los  Angeles  once ; 
San  Francisco  once;  Scranton  twice,  one  night  and 
part  of  two  days;  Bayonne,  New  Jersey,  a  day  and 
night ;  Pittsburg  three  times,  one  night  and  part  of 
two  days ;  Philadelphia  once,  one  night.  In  another 
chapter  I  will  give  account  of  other  arrests. 

I  was  also  put  in  jail  in  Cape  Breton,  Nova  Scotia, 
and  in  1904,  when  five  of  us  attacked* the  wholesale 
liquor  house  of  Mahan  Bros.,  in  Wichita,  of  which  I 
speak  elsewhere. 


196  THE  USE  AND   NEED  OF 

I  spoke  at  Sacramento,  California  to  the  legislature 
when  in  session.  I  got  a  letter  from  one  of  the  offi 
cers  in  the  capitol,  telling  of  the  joints  run  in  the  capi- 
tol  building  and  patronized  by  the  members  of  the  leg 
islature.  A  reporter  went  with  me.  He  tried  to  get 
me  an  opportunity  to  speak,  but  he  was  told  I  could 
not  do  so,  and  that  I  had  better  leave  as  the  crowd 
prevented  them  doing  business.  I  did  not  leave.  The 
reporter  said:  "You  will  not  be  able  to  speak."  I  said: 
"I  will  speak."  I  waited  until  the  speaker  adjourned 
for  noon,  and  as  quick  as  a  flash  I  took  the  stand,  and 
began  my  address.  I  saw  impatience  in  the  faces  of 
many,  but  there  was  a  great  cheer  from  visitors  and 
pages.  I  spoke  about  as  follows :  "I  am  glad  to  speak 
to  the  law-makers  of  California.  I  not  only  believe 
in  making  laws,  but  enforcing  them.  I  called  their 
attention  to  the  most  need  legislation  on  the  lines  of 
prohibition  of  evil.  I  could  see  that  all  seemed  rather 
•pleased.  At  this  point,  I  drew  out  the  letter  which  read 
as  follows:  "Dear  Madam:  I  see  you  are  to  visit  the 
capitol  tomorrow,  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
flagrant  violations  under  the  dome  of  California's 
capitol.  In  the  Bill  Filing  room  is  a  place  where  liquors 
are  kept,  also  in  the  sergeant-at-arm's  room  in  the 
senate  chamber,  behind  a  screen,  is  stored  beer  and 
whiskey,  in  room  56  there  is  a  safe  where  bottles  of 
beer  and  whiskey  are  kept.  These  unlicensed  bars 
are  patronized  by  the  members,  and  with  their  full 
knowledge  and  consent.  It  was  certainly  a  sight  to 
see  the  faces  of  these  men.  After  reading  each  charge, 
I  would  stop  and  say:  "Now  gentlemen  this  must  be 
a  grave  slander,  and  I  want  you  as  a  body  to  rise  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  197 

deny  this  outrage."  I  waited,  no  one  rose  up.  I 
said :  "Certainly  there  must  be  a  mistake,  is  it  possible 
that  the  law-makers  of  this  state  are  the  law-breakers  ? 
if  so,  then  who  is  capable  of  punishing  the  criminals  ?" 
I  continued,  "I  hope  that  at  least  there  are  some  of 
the  members  of  this  body  that  are  ignorant  of  this  and 
that  some  one  if  only  one  will  rise  and  say,  'I  know 
nothing  of  this ;'  "  not  one  arose.  Both  the  houses 
were  adjourned  and  the  aisles  and  lobbies  were  pack 
ed.  These  men  looked  at  each  other  grinning  and 
looking  silly,  some  heartily  enjoying  it,  reminding  me 
of  a  lot  of  bad  boys  that  were  caught  stealing  water 
melons.  The  pages  and  visitors  yelled  and  waved  and 
clapped  their  hands,  but  was  this  not  a  shame?  This 
is  but  a  sample  of  the  legislatures  of  the  states.  Wash 
ington's  capitol  is  a  reproach  to  common  decency,  this 
government,  like  a  dead  fish,  "stinks  worst  at  the 
head." 

I  spoke  in  Austin,  Texas,  at  the  State  University. 
When  I  arrived  in  the  city  I  was  met  by  "Uncle  Tom" 
Murrah.  "Uncle  Tom"  is  a  true  type  of  the  old  fash 
ion  gentleman.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  chivalry  of 
this  dear  friend  I  expect  I  would  have  had  some 
trouble  with  the  police  of  Austin. 

I  went  into  a  saloon  and  was  led  out  in  very  forcible 
manner  by  the  proprietor,  who  was  one  of  the  city 
council.  I  stood  in  front  of  this  man's  man-trap  and 
cried  out  against  this  outrageous  business.  The  man 
kept  a  phonograph  going  to  drown  my  voice.  The 
police  would  have  interfered  but  "Uncle  Tom"  told  me 
to  say  what  I  pleased,  and  he  would  stand  by  me.  I 
went  up  to  the  State  University  with  students  who 


198  THE   USE   AND    NEED   OF 

tried  to  get  a  hall  for  me  to  speak  to  them,  but  they 
could  not.  I  spoke  from  the  steps.  In  the  midst  of 
the  speech  and  the  cheers  from  the  boys  I  heard  a  voice 
at  my  side.  I  looked  and  there  stood  the  Principal, 
Prexley  Prather.  He  was  white  with  excitement,  say 
ing:  "Madam,  we  do  not  allow  such."  I  said:  "I  am 
speaking  for  the  good  of  these  boys."  "We  do  not 
allow  speaking  on  the  campus."  I  said:  "I  have 
spoken  to  the  students  at  Ann  Arbor,  at  Harvard,  at 
Yale,  and  I  will  speak  to  the  boys  of  Texas."  The 
boys  gave  a  yell.  The  mail  man  was  driving  up  at  this 
time.  The  horse  took  fright,  the  letters  and  papers 
flew  in  every  direction.  The  man  jumped  from  the 
sulky;  the  horse  ran  up  against  a  tree  and  was  stop 
ped.  I  offered  to  pay  for  the  broken  shafts  but  the 
mail  carrier  would  take  nothing.  There  was  not  ser 
ious  damage  and  all  had  a  good  laugh,  except,  per 
haps,  the  dignified  Principal. 

When  I  visited  the  students  at  Ann  Arbor,  Mich., 
I  was  given  a  banquet  by  the  Woolley  club  of  the  uni 
versity.  It  gave  me  new  life  to  look  at  such  men  of 
intellectual  and  moral  force.  Oh!  for  such  men  to 
be  -the  fathers  of  the  rising  generation.  Just  such 
men  as  these  will  save  the  Nation.  These  are  the 
hatchets  that  will  smash  up  evil  and  build  up  good. 

One  cannot  help  but  compare  the  tobacco  smoking 
dull  brained  sottish  students  with  these  giants  of 
moral  and  physical  manhood.  These  young  men  were 
the  greatest  argument  in  favor  of  prohibition.  God 
will  bless  the  Woolley  club  of  Ann  Arbor  and  their 
kind. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  199 

AT  HIGH   MASS,  BUFFALO,  OCTOBER  27. 

I  attended  High  Mass  in  St.  Joseph  Cathedral.  One 
of  the  priests,  Mr.  Percell,  was  taking  up  the  collec 
tion.  He  came  to  where  I  was  sitting  but  the  smell  of 
cigarette  smoke  was  so  strong  about  him  that  I  could 
not  refrain  from  a  rebuke,  so  I  said:  "You  smell  so 
bad  from  cigarette  smoke." 

He  said:  "Who?" 
'  I  said :  "You  !" 

He  said :  "You  are  a  liar !" 

I  said :  "No  I  am  not,  you  do  smell  bad !" 

He  said:  "I  will  have  you  put  out  of  this  church." 

I  said":  "I  dare  you !  You  are  the  one  that  should 
be  put  out !" 

He  passed  on  and  after  Mass  I  went  into  the  house 
of  the  priests  and  asked  for  him.  He  could  not  be 
found  but  two  priests  tried  to  make  excuses  and  treat 
ed  me  well.  They  said  they  smoked.  I  told  them  God 
said  for  them  to  cleanse  themselves  from  all  filthiness 
of  the  flesh.  That  they  were  making  provisions  for 
the  flesh  to  fulfill  the  lusts  thereof.  I  said:  "What 
a  shame  for  a  man  to  dress  like  a  saint  and  to  smell 
like  a  devil !" 

One  thing  I  have  noticed — that  the  Catholic  schools 
taught  by  the  Brothers  are  saturated  with  vile  tobacco 
smoke.  I  would  not  like  to  send  a  son  to  such  a  place 
for  that  reason  alone.  There  are  many  things  I  like 
about  the  Catholic  church,  but  why,  oh,  why  is  it  so 
silent  as  a  general  thing  on  the  liquor  traffic?  Why 
are  so  many  of  its  members  in  this  devil's  work  ?  Qh  ! 
what  a  retribution  will  be  theirs  when  it  will  be  proven 
that  instead  of  clothing  the  naked  they  have  robbed 


200  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

children  of  clothes.  Instead  of  feeding  the  hungry 
they  have  allowed  them  to  starve  because  their  bread 
was  taken  to  buy  drink.  They  send  souls  to  prison 
and  do  not  minister  to  them ! 


CHAPTER    XII. 
WOMAN'S  MISSION  FROM  BIBLE  STANDPOINT. 

God  said:  "It  is  not  good  that  the  man  should  be 
alone,  I  will  make  an  help  meet  for  him."  (Gen.  2:18.) 
A  companion,  a  partner,  a  guardian.  The  woman  was 
made  from  the  man.  She  was  made  from  the  flesh 
of  his  side,  and  her  place  is  where  she  belongs,  at  his 
side.  "She  is  bone  of  his  bone  and  flesh  of  his  flesh." 
"Man  was  not  made  for  the  woman,  but  woman  for 
the  man."  (Gen.  2:23.). 

They  were  placed  in  the  Garden;  the  woman 
yielded  to  Satan's  temptation,  and  Adam  and  his 
wife  had  their  natures  changed,  and  spiritual 
death  followed.  God  dealing  out  the  penalty,  said : 
"Man  was  to  labor  among  the  thorns  and  thistles." 
(Gen.  3:18.)  Woman,  or  Eve,  which  means, 
"mother  of  all  living,"  was,  "to  have  the  pains  of  child 
birth,  and  also  her  husband  was  to  rule  over  her,  and 
she  was  to  be  in  bondage  to  her  husband."  (Gen.  3  :15) 
That  will  cause  a  woman  to  forget  her  duty  to  herself, 
and  follow  a  man  who  is  sometimes  her  bitter  enemy. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  201 

This  is  part  of  her  punishment  for  her  sin  of  disobey 
ing  God  and  being  beguiled  and  deceived  by  Satan. 
Man  enslaves  women,  Christ  smashes  this  yoke.  But 
there  is  a  blessing  given  to  women  even  in  the  pains 
of  child  birth,  for,  "the  seed  of  the  woman  shall  bruise 
the  serpent's  head."  (Gen.  3:15.)  Four  thousand 
years  after  this  prophecy  Jesus  was  born,  as  the  "seed 
of  the  woman,"  not  the  seed  of  man.  The  only  child 
that  was  ever  born  that  was  not  the  seed  of  man. 
Man  was  taken  from  earth;  woman  was  taken  from 
man ;  Jesus  was  taken  from  woman ;  Eternal  life  taken 
from  Jesus.  In  all  ages  woman  has  taken  an  active 
part  in  the  defense  of  man ;  as  in  the  case  of  Sarah, 
God  told  Abraham  in  regard  to  their  trouble  about 
Hagar,  "In  all  that  (thy  wife)  Sarah  has  said  unto 
thee,  hearken  unto  her  voice."  (Gen.  21:12.)  In  the 
case  of  Rebecca,  who  obeyed  the  will  of  God  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  will  of  her  husband.  Huldah  and  Deborah 
were  judges,  and  the  latter,  lead  Israel  to  battle  at  one 
time,  she  was  victorious  and  sang  this  song,  "The  in 
habitants  of  the  villages  ceased,  they  ceased  in  Israel 
until  that  I,  Deborah  arose.  That  I  arose  a  mother  in 
Israel."  Judges  5:7.)  Here  is  the  warrior  and  mother 
in  heart  of  woman.  God  gives  these  impulses  with 
the  pure  motherhood.  The  bear  fights  for  her  cubs, 
never  running  from  them  in  danger.  She  puts  them 
behind  her  and  then  plants  herself  between  them  and 
danger,  and  until  she  is  wounded,  or  killed  nothing 
can  get  her  little  ones  while  she  lives.  The  mother 
hen  is  a  beautiful  example  of  motherhood.  She  set 
on  her  eggs  for  three  weeks,  and  the  first  food  given 
her  after  this  long  fast  is  given  to  her'  little  ones.  Let 


202  THE    USE  AND   NEED  OF 

her  see  a  dog  or  a  hawk,  and  she  shrieks  and  fights 
and  flies  with  a  vengeance  at  these  foes.  She  drives 
them  away  then  she  clucks  and  gathers  her  little  brood 
under  her  wings.  She  does  not  go  back  on  her  nest, 
neither  does  she  leave  her  brood  to  the  care  of  the 
rooster.  Oh!  that  mothers  had  the  courage  of  even 
hens  in  the  time  of  danger  to  their  off-spring;  but  wo 
men  hide  away,  and  the  dogs  of  vice  and  the  hawks 
of  saloons  come  to  their  very  door  and  take  their  chil 
dren  from  their  arms  to  hell,  because  of  cowardice. 

Proverbs  31,  gives  God's  ideal  of  a  woman.  She 
teaches  her  boy  to  avoid  bad  women,  to  be  a  prohibi 
tionist,  to  be  good  to  the  dependents,  to  be  merciful ; 
then  the  value  of  a  virtuous  woman  is  placed  above  all 
wealth.  Tells  that  the  heart  of  her  husband  doth  safe 
ly  trust  in  her.  (The  husband  if  a  Mason  dare  not 
trust  in  his  wife.)  Tells  of  confidence  in  each  other,  of 
the  holy  bonds  of  wedlock.  She  is  industrious  and 
works  with  her  hands,  she  is  like  the  merchant's  ship, 
she  brings  unto  her  family  the  valuables  of  wisdom 
and  knowledge  for  husband  and  children.  She  "is  a 
business  woman.  She  considers  a  field  and  buys  it. 
How  essential  it  is  for  a  woman  to  have  business 
knowledge,  she  is  often  left  alone  and  is  a  prey  to  the 
schemes  of  grafters.  "She  girdeth  her  loins  with 
strength."  (Prob.  31:17.)  Not  with  the  cursed  corset. 
She  is  a  good  judge  of  merchandise,  she  does  not  buy 
the  trash  which  takes  her  time  to  arrange  and  dust. 
She  is  charitably  reaching  out  her  hands  to  the  needy. 
"Her  husband  is  known  where  he  sitteth  among  the 
elders  or  good  men,"  (Prov.  31:23)  not  a  tobacco  or 
whiskey  drunkard  or  a  gambler.  "She  looks  well  to 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  203 

the  ways  of  her  household."  (Prov.  31:27.  What  is 
a  woman's  household  here?  Her  husband,  her  chil 
dren,  her  servants.  She  is  to  be  the  overseer  in  her 
house  to  see  that  her  husband  is  instructed  in  good 
ways,  she  is  not  the  one  to  set  a  bad  example  by  going 
to  balls  and  theaters  and  card  parties.  "Let  your  wo 
men  be  teachers  of  good  things."  (Titus  2:3.)  She 
sees  that  her  son  and  daughter  go  in  good  company 
and  are  not  out  late  and  that  their  clothes  are  appro 
priate  for  health  and  modesty,  no  rich  foods  or  drinks 
to  inflame  the  animal  nature  and  passions,  no  thin  ex 
travagant  dresses,  no  "peek-a-boo"  waists,  no  intox 
icants,  no  card  parties.  "Her  children  will  rise  up  and 
call  her  blessed,  her  husband  also,  and  he  praiseth  her. 
Many  daughters  have  done  virtuously  but  thou  excell- 
eth  them  all.  Give  her  of  the  fruit  of  her  hands  and 
let  her  own  works  praise  her  in  the  gates."  "Prov.  31 : 
28-31.  The  cities  were  then  walled  cities  and  the 
gates  were  where  the  judges  and  chief  persons  met," 
so  let  the  works  of  a  woman  praise  her  not  only  in  her 
home  but  at  the  chief  places  of  justice.  Give  her  the 
fruit  of  her  hands ;  the  ballot  is  now  the  best  fruit  of 
the  hands  of  woman. 

Why  work  with  might  and  main  to  raise  children 
to  have  them  murdered  and  mangled  and  sent  to  hell. 
Let  us  work  might  and  main  to  close  saloons  before 
it  is  safe  to  give  birth  to  children.  A  woman  that 
feareth  the  Lord,  she  shall  be  praised.  There  is  noth 
ing  so  sweet  as  the  heart  of  a  woman  filled  with  the 
grace  of  God.  Oh  mother,  dear  mother,  I  have  never 
heard  a  man  tell  of  his  fashionable  or  stylish  mother, 
of  a  mother  who  had  silver  chains  or  who  entertained 


204  THE  USE  AND   NEED  OF 

the  "four-hundred."  No  these  are  the  characteristics 
that  they  cherish.  "My  mother  was  a  Christian,  she 
wore  the  white  ribbon,"  or  "She  was  a  Sunday  school 
teacher,"  or  "She  was  a  good  old  fashioned  shouting 
Methodist."  "She  never  allowed  cards  in  the  house." 
"She  never  allowed  me  to  use  tobacco."  "My  mother 
was  a  praying  woman  and  taught  me  to  pray."  Where 
is  there  not  a  mother  that  would  not  rejoice  to  have 
a  son  say  that  of  her.  God  expressly  commands  wo 
men  not  to  wear  expensive  or  showy  clothing.  He 
says  to  "despise  the  garments  spotted  with  the  flesh." 
(Jude  23.)  Thousands  of  homes  have  been  broken 
up  and  women  gone  to  hell  from  the  love  of  dress. 

A  Catholic  Priest.  "Mendota,  Minn. — Mrs.  Carry 
Nation.  Dear  Sister:  These  days  back  the  season's 
routine  duties  of  a  Catholic  priest  have  prevented  me 
from  expressing  to  you  my  sympathy  and  my  admira 
tion  for  your  pluck.  You  are  the  John  Brown  of  the 
temperance  cause.  Your  smashing  of  saloon  fixtures 
has  been  but  a  very  little  thing  beside  the  effect  it  had, 
and  was  bound  to  have,  all  over  the  country,  and  the 
world,  in  building  up  backbone  and  courage  and  holy 
emulation  in  hundreds  of  thousands  of  those  reading 
of  it.  You  are  a  credit  to  womankind  and  humanity; 
you  are  infinitely  more  deserving  of  the  gratitude  of 
the  country  than  are  the  men  at  the  head  of  our  armies 
and  fleets  in  needless  and  demoralizing  war.  I  want 
to  send  you  $2.00  but  have  some  fears  it  may  not  reach 
you  safely  if  I  enclosed  it  herein.  Praying  that  the 
Lord  may  comfort  and  sustain  you,  I  am  yours  very 
respectfully,  MARTIN  MAHONY. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  RIGHTS  OF  MOTHERS  TO  PROTECT  THEIR  CHILDREN. 

If  a  man  starts  a  ranch  to  raise  cattle  he  protects 
the  females  in  raising  their  young.  He  will  kill  the 
animals  that  will  destroy  his  stock,  and  if  he  produces 
the  pelt  or  scalp  of  these  animals  the  state  pays  him  a 
bounty.  How  is  it  with  the  human  mothers?  They 
produce  the  most  valuable  offspring,  while  children  are 
murdered  before  our  eyes  and  our  hands  are  tied  so 
we  cannot  rescue  them.  No  one  will  say  but  that  wo 
man  represents  more  morality  than  man,  also  that  the 
mother  is  more  interested  in  the  children  than  the 
father;  then  of  course,  the  party  who  has  the  most 
care  and  love  should  be  allowed  the  largest  privilege 
to  exercise  it. 

America  claims  more  civilization  than  any  other  na 
tion  on  earth.  In  the  main  this  is  so.  But  certainly 
she  does  not  protect  motherhood,  and  this  is  her  peril. 
Some  of  the  best  reigns  have  been  those  of  queens. 
All  nations  have  had  their  women  rulers,  but  the  moth 
ers  of  America  are  not  allowed  to  say  who  shall  be  the 
ones  to  help  them  make  good  citizens  of  their  own  chil 
dren,  while  their  bitter  foes  prey  upon  their  offspring 
as  cannibals.  A  widow  with  six  sons  has  a  little  home. 
She  is  taxed  the  same  in  proportion  as  the  brewer,  who 
carries  on  the  human  butcher-shop  that  grinds  up  the 
six  sons  of  the  widow.  He  and  his  crowd  (republi 
cans  and  democrats)  have  the  ballot  that  smashes  the 
poor  widow's  boys  and  takes  her  substance  to  prose- 


206  THE  USE  AND   NEED  OF 

cute  them  after  they  are  made  criminals,  to  pay  for 
their  arrest,  to  build  a  jail  for  them.  Her  heart  is 
broken,  home  is  gone,  and  disgrace  is  hers.  To  ac 
complish  this  she  is  rendered  helpless  by  having  no 
voice  or  ballot  to  protect  herself.  God  never  made  an 
animal  that  he  did  not  give  it  some  means  of  defense. 
While  I  am  writing  this  I  am  in  Bridgeport,  Conneti- 
cut.  I  find  this  a  city  of  eighty-two  thousand.  The 
president  of  the  board  of  education  is  P.  W.  Wren, 
who  is  president  of  the  Conneticut  Brewreries  and  own 
er  of  one  of  the  largest  wholesale  whiskey  houses  in 
the  state.  This  is  as  consistent  as  if  one  were  to  start 
a  ranch  to  raise  chickens,  ducks,  pigs  and  calves  and 
then  place  a  wolf  to  guard  them  from  harm.  The  busi 
ness  of  the  brewer  is  to  sell  beer.  No  animal  but  man 
kind  will  use  this  rotten  slop,  for  the  others  by  instinct 
know  it  is  poison.  No  man  would  let  his  horses  drink 
it,,  for  they  would  be  dangerous  instead  of  being  use 
ful.  The  only  way  to  make  the  brewer's  business  pro 
fitable  is  to  have  boys  and  girls  as  consumers.  The 
brewer  is  not  entirely  to  blame.  It  is  the  voter.  Moth 
ers  would  never  vote  for  such  a  man  to  be  the  public 
guardian  of  the  morals  of  their  children.  All  liquor 
men,  or  liquor  license  men,  are  opposed  to  "woman 
suffrage,"  for  the  reason  that  should  women  vote,  we 
would  have  prohibition  or  abolition  of  the  vice.  The 
women  saved  prohibition  in  Topeka  in  the  year  1903 
by  five  hundred  majority,  while  it  would  have  been 
lost  by  two  hundred  if  men  only  had  voted.  The  con 
test  was  between  the  wet  and  dry  mayors.  Where  wo 
men  have  the  ballot,  even  in  municipal  affairs,  no  state 
has  re-submitted  or  brought  back  the  saloon.  When 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  207 

man  elevates  a  woman  he  elevates  himself.  A  degrad 
ed  woman  means  many  degraded  men.  Free  men  must 
be  the  sons  of  free  women.  This  land  cannot  be  the 
land  of  the  free  or  home  of  the  brave,  until  woman 
gets  her  freedom  and  men  are  brave  and  just  to  award 
it  to  her.  No  man  can  have  the  true  impulse  of  liberty 
and  want  his  mother  to  be  a  slave. 

The  constitution  of  the  United  States  starts  out  by 
saying:  "We,  the  people  of  the  United  States."  Wo 
men  are  people  as  well  as  men.  Therefore,  I  advise 
all  women  to  go  to  the  polls  and  vote  in  spring  and 
fall  elections.  We  want  the  moral,  intellectual  elector 
ate.  The  brewer,  distiller,  saloon  man,  their  agents, 
even  the  colored  man,  who  never  asked  for  it,  was 
given  a  vote.  The  foreigners  in  a  few  months,  or  a 
year,  after  landing,  are  given  the  ballot,  but  the  lov 
ing,  true  defenders  of  God,  home  and  all  the  best  in 
terests  of  humanity,  are  compelled  to  see  their  sons, 
husbands,  and  fathers,  murdered  before  their  eyes, 
without  the  sign  of  a  protest  from  the  government  un 
der  which  they  live.  The  outrageous  unfairness  of 
this  is  quite  evident  when  we  consider  that  the  ballot 
is  represented  and  controlled  by  the  worst  element, 
when  it  should  be  by  the  best.  The  women  are  more 
affected  by  oppression  than  man.  She  is  the  mother, 
the  rest  are  the  children. 

The  mother  would  vote  to  save  the  boy,  and  make 
a  good  citizen  of  him. 

The  saloon  man  votes  to  make  drunkards,  to  injure, 
to  destroy  and  ruin  the  citizen. 

The  best  voters  for  President  are  cast  out,  the  vil- 


208  THE    USE   AND   NEED  OF 

est  put  in,  no  wonder  we  have  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
the  Dutch  brewers'  choice. 

Jacob  sent  for  Rachel  and  Leah  to  consult  with 
them  before  he  left  Laban,  and  he  took  their  advice. 
Moses,  Aaron  and  Miriam  were  chosen  by  God  to 
lead  the  people  out  of  Egypt.  The  Bible  so  states  it. 
Huldah  and  Deborah  were  prophets.  Rahab  was  the 
first  convert  in  Canaan;  she  and  her  family  were  all 
that  was  blessed  in  that  cursed  city  of  Jericho.  Esther 
saved  the  whole  Jewish  nation.  A  woman  smashed 
the  head  of  the  wicked  Abimelech  as  did  Jael  the  wife 
of  Heber,  also.  In  the  Psalms,  G8 :11,  the  original 
says :  "The  Lord  gave  the  word ;  great  was  the  army 
of  women  who  published  it.'* 

Jesus  did  his  first  miracle  at  the  request  of  a  wo 
man,  still  he  rebuked  her.  He  felt  her  powerful  influ 
ence  and  would  know  no  higher  will  except  his  heav 
enly  Father's.  Christ  defended  woman,  saying:  "Why 
trouble  ye  the  woman,  she  hath  wrought  a  good  work 
on  me,"  hereby  rebuking  men  to  interfere  with  any  wo 
man's  work  when  it  is  good.  There  was  not  a  greater 
preacher  than  the  woman  at  the  well  that  brought  out 
the  city  of  Samaria  to  see  Jesus.  Philip  had  four 
daughters  that  prohesied.  Women  were  the  first  dis 
ciples,  they  followed  Christ  from  Galilee.  He  chose 
the  men,  the  women  chose  Him.  Pheobe  was  a  dea 
coness  of  the  church  of  Cenchrea.  The  Bible  records 
no  act  or  word  of  woman  against  Christ.  With  all  His 
sufferings  not  one  was  caused  by  a  woman.  The  poor 
prostitute  bestowed  the  most  loving  service  when  she 
wept  at  His  feet,  kissing  them.  Christ  never  put  Him 
self  on  record  as  condemning  any  woman. 

13 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  "A.   NATION.  209 

This  gives  some  of  the  Bible  women.  There  have 
been  others  in  all  ages.  One  instance  in  the  early  his 
tory  of  Rome.  There  was  a  band  of  men  who  first  set 
tled  Rome.  They  wished  to  get  wives  for  themselves 
and  this  was  the  plan  by  which  they  got  them. 

The  Romans  made  a  great  feast;  had  games;  in 
vited  the  Sabine  nation  to  come  with  their  wives  and 
daughters,  which  they  did.  In  the  height  of  the  foot 
races  and  archery,  the  Romans  rushed  in  among  their 
invited  guests  and  each  snatched  a  woman.  The  Sa- 
bines  returned  and  prepared  for  war.  The  lines  of 
battle  were  drawn.  The  stolen  women  had  a  confer 
ence  and  decided  to  stop  the  war.  They  rushed  in  be 
tween  the  Sabine  men,  their  former  husbands  and 
fathers,  and  the  Romans,  their  last  husbands,  and  fore- 
bade  bloodshed  by  saying:  "You  will  have  to  kill  each 
other  over  our  dead  bodies." 

If  those  heathen  women  by  their  act  could  reconcile 
two  nations,  is  it  not  a  rebuke  to  women  in  this  Chris 
tian  age  for  their  cowardice  in  not  coming  forward 
and  demanding  recognition  in  the  matter  of  being  a 
go-between,  for  one  class  of  men  are  arrayed  against 
another. 

A  hundred  thousand  of  our  sons  are  being  sent  to 
drunkard's  graves  and  a  drunkard's  hell  every  year. 
By  a  bold  stand  for  the  right,  to  defend  our  loved  ones, 
let  us  rush  between  and  stop  this  deadly  strife,  with 
the  same  heroism  of  the  women  of  Rome,  "over  our 
dead  bodies."  Women  will  get  the  ballot  in  time,  but 
it  can  be  hastened  only  by  women  themselves.  It  will 
be  a  great  victory  for  mankind  when  women  can  veto 
the  curse  of  mankind.  The  mother  impulse  is  the 


210  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

strongest  within  women,  and  when  she  can  protect 
her  offspring,  she  will  make  a  greater  effort  to  do  so 
than  now.  She  will  not  then  do  as  many  now  do,  make 
her  body  a  manikin  to  hang  the  fashions  of  the  day 
on.  She  will  not  then  display  her  form  to  attract  the 
vulgar  gaze  of  the  world.  She  will  not  place  the  corp 
ses  of  cats  or  birds  on  her  head.  She  will  not  wear 
mops  at  the  bottom  of  her  dress  to  sweep  up  the  filth 
of  the  earth.  She  will  not  wear  shoes  that  injure  her, 
as  the  heathen  do.  She  will  not  put  her  body  in  the 
vice  of  a  corset,  displacing  the  organs  of  her  body, 
unfitting  her  to  be  a  mother,  causing  more  than  half 
the  surgical  operations  in  the  hospitals.  She  will  then 
discuss  character  more  than  fashion.  She  will  be 
ashamed  of  her  silly,  giggling  and  meaningless  conver 
sation.  God  said:  "A  man  shall  not  wear  that  which 
pertains  to  a  woman  neither  shall  a  woman  put  on  a 
man's  garment  for  all  that  do  such  things  are  an  abom 
ination  unto  God."  Women  will  then  see  the  vulgarity 
and  immodesty  and  sin  in  dressing  in  male  attire  or 
in  any  other  form  of  indecent  exposure  of  her  person. 
Young  men  often  say  to  me:  "Mrs.  Nation,  if  I  go 
to  see  young  ladies  I  can  learn  nothing  from  them. 
They  are  not  interested  in  the  subjects  that  are  im 
proving  to  young  men.  They  read  only  trash."  Also 
they  say:  "I  cannot  afford  to  marry.  I  cannot  sup 
port  a  woman.  Their  wants  are  so  many."  Dress  is 
a  remnant  of  barbarism.  The  Indians  delight  in  differ 
ent  colors,  the  plumage  of  birds,  the  skins  of  animals, 
even  rattle-snakes.  We  retrograde  to  their  level  when 
we  attract  the  vulgar  gaze  to  such  vanities. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

CHRISTIAN  EXPERIENCE. 

The  life  of  a  soul  moved  on  by  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
beyond  human  expression,  as  well  as  human  under 
standing.  "He  that  is  spiritual  judgeth"  (examines) 
all  things,  but  he  himself  is  judged  (or  examined)  of 
no  man."  (1  Cor.  2:15.)  The  spiritual  man  can  see 
the  condition  of  the  unregenerate  for  he  was  once  in 
darkness,  but  the  unregenerate  can  never  understand 
the  condition  of  the  regenerate.  The  impulses  that 
move  one  born  of  God  is  one  of  the  puzzles  not  possi 
ble  to  be  known  by  the  wisdom  of  the  wise  of  this 
world.  'Tis  a  secret,  'tis  hidden,  and  can  come  only 
by  Divine  Revelation  and  is  always  a  miracle,  the 
greatest  ever  performed.  It  raises  from  the  dead, 
never  to  die  again.  It  opens  the  eyes  never  to  be 
closed  again,  'tis  an  armor  that  causes  us  to  handle 
serpents  (devils)  without  harm  and  we  can  hear 
or  drink  poisons,  or  doctrines  but  they  will  not  kill 
our  soul.  "These  signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe." 
(Mark  16  :17.)  The  real  Christ  life  is  and  always  will 
be  hateful  to  the  world.  I  have  often  heard  it  said  of 
me:  "I  cannot  bear  that  Carry  Nation!"  I  wanted 
only  to  do  the  people  good.  I  do  not  blame  these  as 
I  once  did ;  "For  the  carnal  mind  is  not  subject  to  the 
law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be."  (Rom.  8:7.) 
"Marvel  not  that  the  world  hate  you,  ye  know  that 
it  hated  me  before  it  hated  you."  (I  John  3:13; 
John  15:18.)  I  know  that  when  I  was  ten  years 


212  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

old  I  felt  the  movings  of  God's  spirit — got  an 
answer  of  peace,  but  like  a  little  infant  pined  away, 
for  lack  of  care  and  nourishment.  Nothing  but  the 
divine  mercy  of  Almighty  God  could  have  directed  the 
affairs  of  my  tempest- tossed  life.  I  now  know  there 
are  no  accidents.  A  sparrow  falls  by  a  special  provi 
dence.  There  are  no  sins  or  temptations  that  I  can 
not  say:  "My  God  delivered,  saved  and  forgave  me 
for  that."  I  go  to  prisons  and  all  kinds  of  houses  of 
sin.  I  say:  "I  can  tell  you  of  one  who  can  save  and 
forgive  you  for  that,  he  forgave  me,  and  he  will  for 
give  you,  for  I  was  as  bad,  or  worse,  than  you."  I 
have  never  seen  anyone  whom  I  thought  had  commit 
ted  more  sin  than  I.  Many  will  lift  up  horrified  hands 
at  this  but  'tis  true.  I  never  saw  the  corruption  of 
but  one  life,  one  heart, — that  was  mine.  I  was  never 
so  shocked,  so  disgusted,  so  distracted  with  remorse 
over  any  life,  so  much  as  my  own.  My  heart  was  the 
foulest  place  I  ever  saw.  I  do  not  know  what  is  in 
other  people's  hearts.  Paul  meant  this  when  he  said: 
"Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners  of 
whom  I  am  chief."  (I  Tim.  1:98.)  Said,  "This  is 
worthy  of  all  acceptation,"  or  was,  a  good  testimony. 
(I  Tim.  1:15.)  Because  one  can  never  see  how  bad 
the  heart  is,  until  God  sheds  the  light  to  see  it.  So 
many  people  are  deceived,  as  a  blind  man.  They  may 
be  in  filth,  and  do  not  know  it.  It  is  there,  but  not 
seen,  for  lack  of  light. 

I  was  first  condemned  by  reading  the  Psalms.  I 
said:  "If  Christians  have  impulses  to  "rejoice,"  clap 
their  hands,  and  "shout,"  I  do  not  know  what  it  is. 
I  find  no  response  of  gladness  in  my  heart."  I  trem- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  213 

bled  with  fear  to  think  of  God  and  the  judgment  day. 
This  continued  from  youth  up  to  the  age  of  forty.  At 
this  time  I  received  from  Christ  the  "Gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  the  "Unction,"  that  which  "leads  unto  all 
truth."  (John  16:13.)  There  are  many  names  for 
this ;  I  call  it  the  Bible  name.  "Hold  fast  the  form  of 
sound  words."  (II  Tim.  1:13.)  Before  this  I  had 
never  spoken  a  word  for  God  or  prayed  in  public.  At 
one  time  I  was  called  on  to  do  so,  and  was  terrified 
and  mumbled  out  something,  that  was  no  prayer. 
Now  all  was  changed:  "I  was  glad  when  they  said 
unto  me,  let  us  go  into  the  house  of  the  Lord."  I  was 
anxious  for  my  time  to  come  to  tell  how  good  Jesus 
was  to  me.  When  I  met  my  neighbors  I  would  be 
heavy-hearted,  because  they  talked  of  servants,  house 
cleaning,  the  new  fashions,  and  these  seemed  so  vain, 
so  frivolous.  I  liked  to  direct  their  minds  to  speak  of 
the.  Scriptures,  and  of  the  ways  of  doing  work  for 
God.  I  soon  found  out  I  was  not  welcome,  I  was 
looked  upon  as  an  intruder,  was  often  avoided,  I  could 
see  the  frowns  and  glances  of  impatience  at  my  pres 
ence.  These  would  cause  me  many  a  cry  and  morti 
fication.  My  best  companion  was  the  Bible.  I  then 
knew  what  David  meant  when  he  said :  "More  to  be 
desired  are  they,  than  gold,  yea,  than  much  fine  gold ; 
sweeter  also  than  the  honey  and  the  honey  comb." 
(Ps.  19  :10.)  I  often  kiss  and  caress  my  Bible ;  'tis  the 
most  precious  of  all  earthly  treasures. 

I  wonder  how  people  can  live  any  kind  of  Christian 
life  without  reading  the  Scriptures  and  prayer.  If  I 
neglect  this  one  day  I  feel  impatient,  restless, — a  soul 
hunger.  Spurgeon  is  one  of  my  favorite  preachers.  I 


214  THE   USE  AND    NEED  OF 

read  where  he  said,  "Being  a  Christian  was  something- 
like  taking  a  sea  bath.  You  go  in  up  to  the  ankles  and 
there  is  no  pleasure,  then  to  the  knees  is  not  much  bet 
ter,  but  if  you  wish  to  know  the  pleasure  of  a  bath  take 
a  'header'  and  plunge.  Then  you  can  say,  'how  glor 
ious.'  '  Christian  life  is  like  a  journey.  There  are 
flowers  and  fruit  and  streams ;  thorns,  dark  valleys  and 
fires ;  rocky  steeps  from  whose  summits  you  can  see 
beautiful  prospects.  There  is  rest,  refreshment,  sleep 
and  bitter  tearful  watchings.  'Tis  a  great  pleasure  to 
me  to  be  in  a  spiritual  meeting.  To  know  by  the  testi 
mony  how  far  they  have  traveled.  Some  one  in  the 
garden  of  delights ;  he  wonders  why  that  one  tells  of 
the  dark  valley.  One  at  the  base  of  the  hill  cannot  un 
derstand  why  others  see  what  he  cannot.  The  young 
beginner  tells  of  the  beautiful  sights  and  songs;  and 
maybe  the  one  who  has  been  on  the  road  almost  a  life 
time  will  tell  of  the  "continual  heaviness,  hours  of 
darkness,  and  the  smoking  furnace,  and  the  lamp."  I 
have  found  that  the  warrior  is  never  as  bouyant  as  the 
new  recruit,  in  his  dress  parade.  We  humor  children, 
and  call  on  men  to  labor.  Few,  comparatively,  get  to 
the  place  where  they  prefer  hard  labor ;  to  endure  deso 
lation  of  heart ;  to  seek  self  in  nothing ;  to  see  all  loved 
but  himself ;  to  see  others  exalted,  but  only  abasement 
for  self;  to  "endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier;"  (II 
Tim.  2:3),  to  lay  on  the  ground;  to  eat  hard  tack;  to 
make  long,  weary  marches ;  footsore  and  still  fight  on ; 
to  suffer  traveling  over  rocks  and  thorns;  to  endure 
the  loss  of  all  things."  I  will  take  this  last  for  mine, 
'Tis  the  best,  Oh  my  God,  give  me  this!  "He  that 
goeth  forth  and  weepeth  bearing  precious  seeds  shall 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  215 

doubtless  come  again  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves 
with  him."  (Ps.  126:6.)  I  do  not  ask  this  because 
I  enjoy  suffering  but  to  prove  my  love  and  gratitude 
to  Him  who  loved  me,  and  gave  Himself  for  me. 

After  we  moved  to  Medicine  Lodge  the  Free  Meth 
odists  came  there  and  held  a  meeting.  I  had  never 
heard  the  doctrine  of  the  "second  blessing"  or  "sancti- 
fication"  taught.  It  was  very  interesting  to  me.  Three 
women  called  to  see  me  in  my  home,  to  ask  me  if  I 
had  ever  "had  the  Gift."  I  told  them  I  had  something 
peculiar  given  me  from  God  in  Texas ;  asked  them  to 
pray  to  God  to  give  this  great  blessing  to  me  or  a  wit 
ness  that  he  had  done  so.  These  sisters  were  Mrs. 
Painter,  Green  and  Marvin.  I  also  prayed  for  myself. 
In  about  ten  days  from  that  time  I  was  in  my  sitting 
room.  It  was  raining.  A  minister  and  his  daughter 
were  at  our  house,  (Mr.  Laurance,  a  Baptist.)  We 
were  all  quietly  reading  in  the  room.  I  was  in  medita 
tion,  praying  and  saying:  "Just  now,  blessed  Father, 
give  me  the  witness."  Then  a  wonderful  thing  took 
place,  which  it  is  not  "lawful"  or  possible  for  me  to 
utter.  II  Cor.  12:4.)  Something  was  poured  on  top 
of  my  head,  running  all  over  and  through  me,  which 
I  call  divine  electricity.  The  two  persons  who  were 
in  the  room,  Mr.  Laurance  and  his  daughter,  were  very 
much  startled,  for  I  jumped  up,  clapped  my  hands, 
saying:  "I  have  this  from  God,  this  divine  Gift."  I 
went  below  in  the  basement  that  I  might  give  vent  to 
my  gratitude,  and  under  my  breath  I  walked  up  and 
down,  thanking,  praising,  crying  and  laughing. 

Like  the  woman  that  found  the  piece  of  silver  that 
was  lost,  I  had  to  tell  my  neighbors.  I  wrapped  myself 


216  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

up  to  be  protected  from  the  rain,  and  ran  to  Sister 
Painter,  near  by,  then  to  Sister  Dollar's  and  Marvin's 
and  several  others,  to  tell  them  of  my  great  blessing. 

When  I  returned  I  opened  my  Bible.  Every  word 
and  every  letter  was  surrounded  with  a  bright  light. 
I  turned  over  the  leaves,  and  I  saw  the  meaning  on  the 
pages  at  a  glance.  There  was  a  new  light  and  mean 
ing.  I  have  never  been  able  to  express  that  experi 
ence  in  any  other  way  than  to  say  I  was  "eating"  the 
word  of  God.  I  could  now  understand  why  we  do 
not  understand  the  figures  and  expressions  used  in  the 
Bible,  because  I  have  had  several  experiences,  that 
were  impossible  to  explain  by  human  language. 

I  told  Mr.  Nation  that  the  Bible  was  a  new  book  to 
me,  tried  to  explain  to  him ;  told  him  I  now  saw  the 
meaning  of  everything.  He  said :  "Explain  Lazarus 
and  the  rich  man."  I  turned  to  it  instantly.  The  di 
vine  light  gave  a  new  meaning  to  me.  I  commented 
thus  as  I  read  it :  "This  rich  man  is  the  Jewish  nation, 
with  its  gorgeous  temple  service.  The  poor  man  is  the 
Gentile  nations  called  dogs,  no  temple,  no  altar,  no 
God,  no  healing;  like  a  man  with  an  incurable  loath 
some  disease.  These  begged  from  the  Jews  the  crumbs 
that  fell  to  their  dogs.  This  rich  man  had  much 
goods.  He  could  have  shared  to  bless,  but  through 
lack  of  charity  he  withheld. 

The  beggar  died,  and  angels  took  him  to  Abraham's 
bosom,  the  very  place  the  Jews  thought  was  only  for 
them.  This  is  a  figure  of  the  death  to  sin,  and  the  life 
to  righteousness.  The  natural  must  die  before  the 
spiritual  can  live.  The  rich  man  died,  and  was  buried. 
The  Jewish  nation  died  as  it  is  here  predicted,  and  in 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  217 

hell,  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torments.  It  is  not 
said  that  the  Gentiles,  or  Lazarus  were  buried.  The 
Jews  as  a  nation  are  dead,  never  to  be  resurrected. 
They  have  been  scattered  abroad  in  torments,  a  people 
without  a  land,  a  hiss  and  a  byword,  as  God  said.  The 
Jew  sees  the  Gentiles  with  the  good  things,  he  once 
had.  Has  time  and  time  again  begged  relief  from 
them.  The  Jews  wish  no  companionship  in  their  mis 
ery,  have  no  missionaries.  Five  is  a  number  applied 
to  humanity ,— five  senses,  five  fingers,  five  toes.  The 
gulf  spoken  of  as  being  impassable,  is  the  separateness 
of  the  Jews  from  all  others. 

The  rich  man  wants  one  from  the  dead  to  go  to  his 
five  brethren,  or  humanity.  Abraham  or  the  Gospel 
reminds  the  Jew  that  Moses  and  the  prophets  were  as 
convincing ;  they  would  not  believe  them.  Christ  said : 
"If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets — for  they 
wrote  of  me — neither  will  they  be  persuaded  though 
one  rose  from  the  dead."  (Luke  16:31.)  Christ  in 
this  parable  prophesied  of  his  own  death  and  resurrec 
tion,  they  did  not  believe  when  he  arose  from  the  dead. 

Scripture  was  given  a  meaning  I  had  never  heard 
of  before.  This  light  continued  for  about  three  days. 
Oh !  if  I  had  devoted  all  my  time  then  to  reading  while 
I  had  this  divine  light!  We  never  know  the  value  of 
any  blessing,  until  it  is  gone.  Persons  almost  univers 
ally  say  of  me:  "You  have  studied  and  remember  so 
much  of  the  Bible,"  but  this  is  a  gift  from  God.  I 
know  why  God  gave  this  to  me.  Because  I  have  al 
ways  been  a  reader  and  a  student  of  holy  teachings, 
even  when  it  was  sealed,  and  often  to  me,  contradic 
tory.  "If  any  will  do  His  will,  they  shall  know  of  the 


218  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

doctrine."  (John  7:17.)  Jesus  said:  "Search  the 
Scriptures."  (John  5:39.)  "Study  to  show  thyself  a 
workman  well  approved  unto  God,  that  needeth  not  to 
be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth."  Tis  a 
sweet  love  letter  by  an  independent  God  to  a  depend 
ent  people.  "Oh !  the  depth  of  the  riches,  both  of  the 
wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God !  How  unsearchable  are 
his  judgments  and  his  ways  past  finding  out."  (Rom. 
11:33.)  Yet  His  love  can  be  felt  and  known  by  all. 
Not  one  of  the  severe  judgments  of  God  but  they  re 
flect  this  tender  love  of  God,  in  destroying  that  which 
love  hates,  because  sin  is  the  enemy  of  love,  the  bitter 
foe  to  the  happiness  of  mankind ;  therefore  'tis  an  evi 
dence  of  the  intensity  of  love  to  destroy  sin.  Take  for 
instance  the  destruction  of  the  Amalekites.  This  peo 
ple  was  a  curse  to  the  earth  and  the  enemy  of  all  good. 
"Remember  what  Amalek  did  unto  thee,  by  the  way, 
when  ye  were  come  forth  out  of  Egypt.  How  he  met 
thee  by  the  way,  and  smote  the  hindmost  of  thee,  even 
all  that  were  feeble  behind  thee  when  thou  wast  faint 
and  weary;  and  he  feared  not  God.  Therefore  it 
shall  be  when  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given  thee  rest 
from  thine  enemies,  thou  shalt  blot  out  the  rememb 
rance  of  Amalek  from  under  heaven."  (Deut.  25:17- 
19.)  God  waited  four  hundred  years  from  this  time. 
They  still  were  murderers.  Then  he  told  Saul  to  utterly 
destroy  this  cruel  nation.  (I  Sam.  15:3.)  The  state 
kills  a  man  now.  This  is  not  a  cruelty  but  a  mercy, 
"And  those  which  remain  shall  hear  and  fear  and  shall 
henceforth  commit  no  more  any  such  evil."  "'Tis 
righteous  retribution  with  God  to  recompense  tribula 
tion  to  those  who  trouble  you."  (II  Thes.  1:6.) 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  219 

Persons  often  argue  that  the  books  of  the  Bible  are 
written  by  man  and  cannot  be  said  to  be  written  by 
God.  I  illustrate  the  way  God  wrote  the  Bible  by  this : 
You  have  a  package  of  letters  from  your  mother. 
Some  are  written  with  red  ink,  some  with  black,  some 
with  a  stub  pen,  some  with  a  fine  point,  some  with  a 
pencil,  etc.  You  do  not  say,  the  pen  wrote  me  this 
letter  and  the  pencil  wrote  me  that.  No,  this  is  not 
spoken  of  or  considered.  You  say :  "My  mother  wrote 
these  letters  to  me."  Just  so,  Moses  is  God's  pen,  or 
stenographer  with  which  he  wrote  the  five  books  or  the 
pentateuch.  Joshua  was  also  a  stenographer,  and 
Ezra,  Job,  David,  Solomon,  and  so  with  the  writers 
of  the  New  Testament.  God  dictated  to  them  what  he 
wanted  them  to  say  and  showed  them  the  vision.  The 
Bible  carries  within  itself  its  own  evidence  of  divinity. 
It  requires  no  proof.  It  but  weakens  its  own  evidence, 
to  appeal  to  human  aid.  The  fulfilled  prophesy,  its 
inimitable  poetry,  is  proof  to  the  natural  man  to  know 
it  to  be  above  the  human  mind,  and  to  a  child  of  God 
it  speaks  with  life,  and  love  more  potent  than  an  earth 
ly  parent  to  their  child.  The  Holy  Spirit  only  can  in 
terpret  his  own  words :  "'Tis  foolishness  to  those  who 
perish,  but  unto  us  who  are  saved  it  is  the  power  of 
God."  (I  Cor.  1:18.)  'Tis  the  men  and  women  edu 
cated  by  God's  Word  that  are  the  Light  and  Salt. 
They  are  the  trees  planted  by  rivers  of  waters  the  rest 
are  the  chaff  that  will  be  blown  away  and  destroyed. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

SPIRITUAL   AUTHORITY    FOR    MY    CHRISTIAN    WORK. 

I  have  a  great  benediction  on  my  work.  Where- 
ever  I  go  the  dear  mothers  shake  my  hand  and  kiss 
my  face,  saying:  "God  bless  you.  I  want  to  help  you. 
You  did  what  I  wanted  to  do."  It  is  the  heart  of 
motherhood  running  over  with  love.  "The  gentle  are 
the  brave,  the  loving  are  the  daring." 

I  got  a  telegram  from  a  man  saying:  "Your  article 
in  Physical  Culture  on  the  use  of  tobacco  has  cured 
me  of  the  vice."  One  man  from  Omaha,  Nebraska, 
wrote:  "Three  years  ago  I  was  a  drunkard.  I  had  a 
drug  store.  I  was  losing  business  and  going  to  ruin 
generally.  When  I  heard  of  what  you  did,  I  said: 
/If  that  woman  can  do  that  to  save  others,  I  ought  to 
do  something  for  myself.'  So  now  I  am  a  changed 
man.  My  wife  is  a  changed  woman.  I  have  to  thank 
you  and  Almighty  God.  My  business  is  growing  every 
day." 

Upon  several  occasions  I  have  had  people  to  put 
five  dollars  in  my  hand.  While  I  was  lecturing  in 
Pasadena,  California,  for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  one  young 
man  put  in  my  hand  what  I  thought  was  a  silver  dollar, 
but  on  looking  it  was  a  twenty  dollar  gold  piece.  I 
said:  "I  will  lay  that  up  in  heaven  for  you."  And  so 
I  have.  I  never  learned  his  name  but  he  will  certainly 
find  that  twenty  dollars  in  the  bank  of  heaven  with  in 
terest. 

When  I  first  started  out  in  this  crusade  I  was  called 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  221 

crazy  and  a  "freak"  by  my  enemies,  but  now  they  say: 
''No,  Carry  Nation,  you  are  not  crazy,  but  you  are 
sharp.  You  started  out  to  accomplish  something  and 
you  did.  You  are  a  grafter.  It  is  the  money  you  are 
after."  Jesus  said:  "John  came  neither  eating  or 
drinking  and  ye  say,  Behold  a  wine  bibber  and  a  glut 
ton."  So  it  is  the  world  never  did  understand  an  un 
selfish  life.  Paul  said:  "It  is  a  very  small  thing  that 
I  shall  be  judged  of  man's  judgment,  I  judge  not  mine 
ownself,  for  I  know  nothing  by  myself."  (Cor.  4:3.) 

There  have  been  from  the  first  time  I  started  out, 
persons  who  understood  that  God  moved  me.  These 
were  students  of  the  Old  Scriptures.  Jesus  told  the 
people  before  the  New  Testament  was  written  to 
"search  the  Scriptures — these  are  they  that  testify  of 
me.  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and 
is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction, 
for  instruction  in  righteousness.  That  the  man  of  God 
may  be  perfect  thoroughly  furnished  unto  every  good 
work."  (II  Tim.  3:16.)  To  be  thorough  one  must 
know  the  old  as  well  as  the  new.  In  all  the  sermons 
of  Paul,  Peter  and  the  rest,  they  quote  from  old  Scrip 
ture.  So  did  Jesus.  Read  Peter's  first  sermon  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost.  There  is  a  tendency  to  study  the 
New  Testament  more  than  the  Old.  It  is  not  possible 
to  understand  the  New,  unless  we  first  study  the  Old. 
One  of  my  favorite  books  is  Deuteronomy,  the  dying 
words  of  Moses.  He  here  repeats  the  great  mercy, 
consideration  and  power  of  God's  dealings  with  his 
people.  Tells  the  kind  of  characters  God  will  bless. 
How  God  loves  the  pure  and  good.  How  He  hates 
the  wicked.  We  here  see  that  God  creates  good  and 


222  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

evil,  and  holds  us  responsible  for  the  choosing.  While 
God  rules  in  all  things  we  have  the  power  to  bring  on 
ourselves  blessings  or  cursings.  (Deut.  30:19.)  This 
book  declares  the  man  or  woman  invincible  that  aban 
dons  himself  or  herself  to  do  God's  will. 

"True  merit  lies  in  braving  the  unequal. 
True  glory  comes  from  daring  to  begin. 
God  loves  the  man  or  woman,  who  reckless 

of  the  sequel, 
Fights  long  and  well,  whether  they  lose  or  win." 

In  the  seventh  chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  God  com 
manded  "the  children  of  Israel  to  "destroy  the  images," 
"break  down"  the  altars  and  "burn  the  graven  images" 
of  the  gods  of  the  heathen.  This  was  smashing!  Also 
said  to  them :  "If  you  do  not  drive  them  out  they  shall 
be  thorns  in  your  sides."  (Num.  33:55.)  God  gave 
them  power  and  ability  to  do  this,  then  he  required 
them  to  do  it.  God  supplies  man's  "cannots,"  not  his 
"will  nots."  In  Numbers  twenty-fifth  chapter,  Phineas 
was  given  God's  covenant  of  peace  and  the  priesthood, 
because  he  slew  the  woman  and  man  that  were  com 
mitting  sin :  "Because  he  was  jealous  for  his  God  and 
made  an  atonement  for  the  children  of  Israel."  (Num. 
25:13.)  This  was  smashing.  God  himself  smashed 
up  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  In  the  seventeenth  chapter 
of  Deuteronomy,  verses  five  and  seven  God  say? :  "The 
idolator  shall  be  stoned  with  stones  till  he  die.  So 
shalt  thou  put  the  evil  away  from  you."  This  is 
smashing!  I  could  write  a  book  recounting  the  h<*i- 
dents  recorded  in  God's  Word. 

"What  is  in  thine  hand,  Abel?" 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  223 

"Nothing  but  one  wee  lamb,  O  God,  taken  from  the 
tlock.  I  purpose  offering  it  to  thee,  a  willing  sacrifice." 

And  so  he  did.  And  the  sweet  smell  of  that  burning 
has  been  filling  the  air  ever  since,  and  constantly  go 
ing  up  to  God  as  a  perpetual  sacrifice  of  praise. 

"What  is  it  thou  hast  in  thine  hand,  Moses?" 

"Nothing  but  a  staff,  O  God,  with  which  I  tend  my 
flocks." 

"Take  it  and  use  it  for  me." 

And  he  did ;  and  with  it  wrought  more  wondrous 
things  than  Egypt  and  her  proud  king  had  seen  before. 

"Mary,  what  is  that  thou  hast  in  thine  hand?" 

"Nothing  but  a  pot  of  sweet-smelling  ointment,  O 
God,  wherewith  I  would  anoint  thine  only  One  called 
Jesus." 

And  so  she  did;  and  not  only  did  the  perfume  fill 
all  the  house  in  which  they  were,  but  the  Bible-reading 
world  has  been  fragrant  with  the  memory  of  this 
blessed  act  of  love,  which  has  ever  been  spoken  of  "for 
a  memorial  of  her." 

"Poor  woman,  what  is  it  that  thou  hast  in  thine 
hand?" 

"Only  two  mites,  Lord.  It  is  very  little;  but  then 
it  is  all  I  have,  and  I  would  put  it  into  thy  treasury." 

And  so  she  did ;  and  the  story  of  her  generous  giv 
ing  has  ever  since  wrought  like  a  charm,  prompting 
others  to  give  to  the  Lord. 

"What  is  it  that  thou  hast  in  thine  hand,  Dorcas?" 

"Only  a  needle,  Lord." 

"Take  it  and  use  it  for  me." 

And  so  she  did  ;  and  not  only  were  the  suffering  poor 
of  Joppa  warmly  clad,  but  inspired  by  her  loving  life. 


224:  THE    USE   AND   NEED   OF 

"Dorcas  Societies"  even  now  continue  their  benign 
mission  to  the  poor  throughout  the  earth. 

"What  is  it  in  thine  hand,  Shamgar?" 

"Only  an  ox  goad,  a  stick  with  which  to  drive  oxen. 
I  slew  six  hundred  enemies  of  God,  and  man  deliver 
ing  from  slavery  God's  people." 

"What  is  it  in  thine  hand  Samson?" 

"The  jaw  bone  of  an  ass  which  was  a  power  in  the 
hand  used  by  God,  to  slay  a  thousand  wicked  cruel 
infidels." 

"David  why  do  you  lay  aside  the  armor  of  Saul  and 
meet  the  giant,  with  only  a  sling?" 

"My  God  will  give  the  power  to  slay  the  foe  to 
mercy  and  truth." 

"What  is  in  thine  hands  Gideon?" 

"Nothing  but  an  empty  pitcher,  a  lamp  and  a 
trumpet.  I  blew  with  my  trumpet  and  smashed  the 
pitchers." 

"Carry  Nation,  what  have  you  in  your  hand?" 

Sometimes  a  rock ;  sometimes  a  hatchet ;  God  told 
me  to  use  these  to  smash  that  which  has  smashed  and 
will  smash  hearts  and  souls.  The  sound  of  this  lov 
ing  deed  will  stir  conscience  and  hearts  and  while  I 
cannot  finish  the  smashing,  the  voter  of  this  nation 
will  use  their  ballots  that  will,  and  this  impulse  will 
Carry  A.  Nation. 

God  sent  an  angel  from  heaven  to  tell  Gideon  to 
smash  up  the  altar  and  image  of  Baal.  By  divine 
command  Achan  and  family  were  smashed.  God 
would  not  give  Joshua  victory  until  this  was  done. 
Saul  was  commanded  by  God  (through  his  prophet 

14 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  225 

Samuel,)  to  utterly  destroy  the  Amalekite  nation, 
and  all  their  substance.  He  was  disobedient  and  saved 
the  king.  Samuel  hacked  or  smashed  up  Agag,  al 
though  Saul  was  the  regularly  appointed  one.  This  is 
a  case  directly  in  point.  The  officers  in  Kansas  weic 
oath-bound  to  do  what  Carry  A.  Nation  did. 

Our  Savior's  mission  on  earth  was  to  "breaK 
(smash)  every  yoke  and  let  the  oppressed  go  free." 
Isa.  58  :6.  Upon  two  occasions  he  made  a  scourge,  of 
small  cords  and  laid  it  on  the  backs  of  wicked  men 
who  were  doing  unlawful  things.  He  came  into  this 
world  "to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil."  (I  John 
3:8.)  "The  God  of  peace  shall  bruise  Satan  under 
your  feet  shortly."  (Rom.  16:20.)  We  are  told  to 
"Abhor  that  which  is  evil,"  (Rom.  12:9,)  to  "Resist 
(or  fight)  the  devil  and  he  will  flee."  (Jas.  4:7.)  We 
are  not  to  be  "Overcome  with  evil  but  to  overcome  evil 
with  good."  (Rom.  12:21.)  How?  Resist  the  devil. 
God-  blessed  the  church  at  Ephesus,  because  they 
"hated  the  evil  workers,  tried  them  and  found  them 
liars."  The  hatred  of  sin  is  one  mark  of  a  Christian. 
Just  in  proportion  to  your  love  for  God  will  be  your 
hatred  of  evil.  I  will  here  give  you  a  Bible  reading 
on  the  subject.  These  are  some  instances  of  smash 
ing.  The  ten  plagues  of  Egypt  and  the  overthrow  of 
Pharaoh,  were  smashing.  The  death  of  the  first  born 
also: 

Gen.  19  :24,  9  :5,  6,  4 :7-ll ;  Lev.  19  :17  ;  Num.  33  :55, 
56;  Deut.  7:2-5,  21:1-9;  21:18-21,  13:12-18,  17:5-7, 
19:13-20,  25:17-19,  30:15-19;  Josh.  7:25,  26,  7:10-12, 
10:24-26,  23:7;  Judges  3:31,  4:21,  6:25,  7:20,  15:15, 
9  :53  ;  1  Sam.  15  :33  ;  2  Chron.  34 :4,  5,  7 ;  Neh.  13  :8-25  ; 


22G  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

Isa.  28:21,  54:1G;  Matt.  21:12;  John  2:13-23;  Acts 
13:8-11. 

If  I  could  I  would  turn  the  key  on  every  church  in 
the  land  for  six  months,  so  as  to  teach  some  preachers 
to  go  out,  and  not  stay  in,  and  compel  poor  sinners  to 
stay  out.  I  yield  no  territory  to  the  devil.  Let  us  take 
every  saloon,  every  house  of  prostitution  of  men  and 
women  for  God.  "There  shall  not  a  hoof  be  left  be 
hind."  (Exod.  10:26.)  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  suf- 
fereth  violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by  force," 
(Matt.  11:12,)  which  means  that  where  the  evil  is. 
aggressive,  we  must  be  more  so,  and  take,  compelling 
surrender  by  the  determination  never  to  yield. 

I  feel  that  I  have  been  peculiarly  favored  to  go  into 
these  places,  to  "cry  aloud  and  spare  not  and  show 
my  people  their  sins."  (Isa.  58:1.)  I  find  this  class  so 
hungry  for  something  better.  These  poor  actresses, 
who  dress  in  tights  and  sing  indecent  songs,  are  a 
weary,  tired,  heart-sick  lot  of  slaves.  I  mingle  with 
them  as  a  sister.  When  I  can  say  a  warning  word  1 
say  it.  I  call  them  affectionate  names  and  mean  it. 
God  will  judge  both  of  us.  He  knows  who  loved 
much ;  he  can  forgive  much.  Christ  said  to  a  lot  of 
men  who  took  the  amen  pews :  "The  publicans  and 
harlots  go  into  the  kingdom  of  God  before  you." 
(Matt.  21:31.)  Why?  They  "repented  when  they 
heard."  "How  are  they  to  hear  without  a  preacher?" 
I  never  see  a  man  or  woman  so  low  but  I  say,  as  a 
sculptor  said  of  the  marble:  "There  is  an  angel  there." 
Oh,  God,  help  me  to  bring  it  out! 

Jesus  received  sinners  and  ate  with  them.     He  left 
a  command  that  Christians  should  invite  these  to  feasts 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  227 

in  their  homes.  Oh!  what  a  revival  of  religion  there 
would  be  if  the  homes  of  Christians  were  opened  to 
the  lost  and  sinful,  who  are  dying  for  some  demonstra 
tion  of  love.  If  the  Son  of  God,  the  lovely,  the  pure,, 
the  blessed  ate  with  sinners,  ought  it  not  to  be  a  priv 
ilege  to  follow  Him.  We  are  commanded  to  "reprove^ 
rebuke,  and  exhort  with  all  long  suffering  and  doc 
trine."  (II  Tim.  4:2.)  People  will  work  in  a  revival 
to  get  sinners  saved,  and  will  pass  them  day  after  day 
on  the  street  and  not  a  word  of  Scripture,  do  they  use 
to  remind  them  of  God's  judgments.  Jesus  said: 
"The  world  hateth  me  because  I  testify  of  it  that  the 
works  thereof  are  evil."  (John  7:7.)  I  have  had  men 
to  swear  at  me,  call  me  names  and  threaten  to  knock 
me  down.  At  first  this  caused  me  to  feel  mortified  but 
that  passed  off.  These  very  men  have  afterward  told 
me  I  was  right  and  they  were  wrong.  The  devil 
"threw  some  on  the  ground  and'  they  foamed  at  the 
mouth"  before  he  was  cast  out.  I  have  often  taken 
cigars  and  cigarettes  out  of  men's  and  boy's  mouths. 
I  wished  to  show  them  the  wrong  and  that  I  was  a 
friend.  Would  you  let  one  you  love  take  a  knife  to 
open  a  vein  or  cut  himself?  Oh!  the  sweetness  and 
force  of  that  promise :  "Your  labor  is  never  in  vain  in 
the  Lord."  (Isa.  65  :23.)  This  covers  all  cases,  if  you,, 
for  the  love  of  God,  do  anything.  I  often  say  to  my 
self,  after  rebuking  for  sin :  "You  made  a  mistake  in 
•the  way  you  did  this  or  that,  and  are  you  sure  it  was 
done  for  the  love  of  God  and  your  neighbor?"  "Yes." 
Then  "your  labor  is  never  in  vain  in  the  Lord."  It  is 
not  what  we  do  that  prospers,  but  what  God  blesses. 
"He  that  planteth  is  nothing  and  he  that  watereth  is 


228  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

nothing,  but  it  is  God  that  giveth  the  increase."  (I  Cor. 
3:7.)  And  it  matters  not  how  awkward  the  work,  if 
it  be  done  from  love  of  God,  it  will  prosper.  Like 
other  things,  the  more  you  do,  the  better  you  can  do. 

All  the  Christian  work  I  ever  did  seemed  to  meet 
with  severe  opposition  from  church  members.  This 
is  a  great  stumbling  block  to  some.  The  church  cruci^ 
fied  our  blessed  Christ,  that  is,  it  was  the  hypocrites; 
for  the  church  is  the  light  and  salt,  the  body  of  Christ. 
"If  I  yet  please  men,  I  should  not  be  the  servant  of 
Christ."  (Gal.  1:10.)  There  is  no  other  organization 
but  the  church  of  Christ  that  persecutes  its  own  fol 
lowers.  The  hierarchy  in  the  church  told  Christ  "He 
had  a  devil,"  but  they  could  not  meet  the  argument 
when  He  said :  "A  kingdom  divided  against  itself  will 
not  stand."  If  I,  by  the  spirit  of  Beelzebub,  cast  out 
devils,  by  what  kind  of  a  spirit  do  your  children  cast 
them  out."  The  devil  never  destroys  his  own  work. 
If  the  saloon  is  of  the  devil,  the  power  that  destroys  it 
is  the  opposite.  If  a  mother  should  see  a  gun  pointed 
at  her  son  would  she  break  the  law  to  snatch  the  gun 
and  smash  it?  The  gun  was  not  hers.  It  may  have 
been  worth  a  thousand  dollars.  The  saloon  is  worse 
than  the  gun  which  could  only  destroy  the  body. 

It  is  a  great  blessing  to  know  your  mission  in  life. 
I  know  why  Christians  are  waiting  with  folded  hands, 
not  being  able  to  see  their  mission.  They  are  not  will 
ing  to  pay  the  great  price  for  their  commission.  The , 
rich  young  man  could  have  been  a  follower  of  Jesus, 
the  greatest  honor  in  earth  or  heaven,  and  could  have 
had  eternal  treasure  in  heaven  for  the  transient  gain 
of  earth.  He  would  not  pay  the  price.  You  must  give 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  229 

all,  to  get  all.  The  effect  of  smashing  has  always  been 
to  cause  the  people  to  arouse  themselves.  The  Levite 
that  severed  his  dead  concubine  and  sent  parts  of  her 
body  to  the  different  tribes  of  Israel  was  to  cause  the 
people  to  "consider,  take  advice  and  speak."  Then 
they  acted  and  four  hundred  thousand  men  presented 
themselves  to  redress  this  wrong. 

The  smashing  in  Kansas  was  to  arouse  the  people. 
If  some  ordinary  means  had  been  used,  people  would 
have  heard  and  forgotten,  but  the  "strange  act"  de 
manded  an  explanation  and  the  people  wanted  that, 
and  they  never  will  stop  talking  about  this  until  the 
question  is  settled. 

Let  us  consider  the  character  of  Moses.  It  is  said 
this  man  disobeyed  God  but  once,  and  he  was  the 
"meekest  of  all  men."  We  are  first  attracted  to  him 
peculiarly  because  he  "refused  to  be  called  the  son  of 
Pharaoh's  daughter,  rather  suffering  afflictions  with 
the. people  of  God  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin 
for  a  season."  (Heb.  11:25.)  Rather  be  counted  with 
the  poor  despised,  afflicted  slaves  under  the  taskmas 
ter's  lash  than  be  a  king  or  an  absolute  monarch.  This 
brought  out  hfs  characteristic  prohibition  of  sin, — the 
renouncing  of  every  worldly  ambition,  He  here  made 
the  choice,  at  the  time  when  the  temptations  were 
the  greatest,  for  all  that  the  world  could  offer  was  his. 
He  gave  all  and  paid  the  price  it  requires  to  get  all. 
On  the  banks  of  the  Nile  he  sees  one  man  oppressing 
another.  That  spirit  of  prohibition  of  this  great  wrong 
caused  him  to  strike  (smash)  the  oppressor. 

Here  is  a  lovable  trait  of  this  great  man.  Moses, 
could  not  look  on  and  see  the  helpless  suffer  at  the 


230  THE   USE   AND    NEED   OF 

hands  of  another,  even  though  it  brought  death  to 
himself.  Forgetful  of  his  own  safety,  defying  the  ab 
solute  power  and  authority  of  this  despot,  so  far  as  it 
lay  in  his  power,  against  all  these  odds  he  redressed 
the  wrong  of  a  fellow  creature.  God  saw  in  Moses  a 
man  whom  He  could  use.  From  the  golden  throne  he 
sought  a  retreat,  and  for  forty  years  was  an  humble 
shepherd,  learning  the  lesson  of  caring  for  the  flocks 
of  Jethro,  before  he  should  be  called  to  take  the  over 
sight  of  the  flock  of  God.  "He  that  is  faithful  in  that 
which  is  least  is  faithful  also  in  that  which  is  much." 
God  called  this  man  out  of  the  wilderness  to  go  to  the 
greatest  court  on  earth  as  His  ambassador.  Not  one 
compromise  would  he  make,  still  true  to  his  prohibi 
tion  principles.  God  never  used  or  blessed  any  man 
or  woman  that  was  not  a  prohibitionist.  Eli  was  one 
of  those  conservatives  and  said  only,  "Nay  verily  my 
sons."  And  he  got  his  neck  broken  and  both  of  his 
sons  got  killed  because  he  restrained  not  his  sons 
in  the  iniquity  which  he  knew."  Moses,  although 
the  meekest  of  all  men,  he  said  to  Pharaoh,  "There 
shall  not  a  hoof  be  left  behind."  (Exod.  10 :36.)  True 
to  the  uncompromising  spirit  of  a  great-  leader.  When 
in  the  Mount,  seeing  the  idolatry,  smashed  the  two 
tables  of  stone.  Why  ?  He  would  not  deliver  the  holy 
laws  to  a  people  who  were  insulting  God.  This  smash 
ing  was  a  demonstration  of  Moses'  jealously  for  his 
God.  After  this  I  can  see  him  striding  down  to  the 
place  of  this  "ball"  or  "hugging."  The  round  dance 
of  the  present  day  is  but  a  repetition  of  those  lasciv 
ious  plays,  and  with  his  ax  or  hatchet  he  hacked  up 
that  malicious  property,  shaped  into  a  golden  calf. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  231 

This  did  not  belong  to  Moses.  It  was  very  valuable 
but  he  smashed  it  and  ground  it  to  powder  and  then 
to  further  humiliate  these  rebels,  he  made  them  drink 
the  dust  mixed  with  water,  then  to  absolutely  destroy 
and  stamp  with  a  vengeance  this  insult  to  God,  he  di 
vided  the  people  and  those  who  were  "on  the  Lord's 
side"  fought  with  these  rebels  and  slew  (smashed) 
three  thousand  men.  In  one  of  the  apocryphal  books 
of  the  Catholic  Bible  we  have  the  story  of  the  holy  wo 
man  Judeth  who  cut  off  the  head  of  Hollifernese  to 
save  God's  people.  Esther  the  gentle  loving  queen 
had  the  wicked  sons  of  Haman  hanged.  Our  suprem- 
est  idea  of  justice  is  a  reward  for  the  good  and  a  pun 
ishment  for  the  wicked.  We  amputate  the  arm  to  save 
the  body.  David  says :  "I  will  not  know  a  wicked  per 
son  ;  he  that  telleth  lies  shall  not  dwell  in  my  sight." 
(Ps.  101:4.) 

The  devil  has  his  agents  in  the  churches,  and  among 
those  who  are  doing  his  work  the  best,  are  a  class  of 
professors  who  testify  that  you  must  not  speak  ill  of 
any  one,  not  even  the  devil.  They  are  the  "non-resis- 
tives."  The  devil  is  delighted  to  be  respected,  and  not 
fought.  He  gets  his  work  in  just  as  he  wants  to  and 
he  can  imitate  true  conversion,  if  he  can  place  in  the 
church  those  who  hinder  a  warfare  against  sin.  Paul 
said :  "I  tell  you  even  weeping  they  are  enemies  of  the 
cross  of  Christ."  (Phil.  3  :18.)  They  are  the  devils  in 
light.  "But  there  must  needs  be  heresies  among  you 
that  they  who  are  approved  may  be  manifest."  Per 
sons  often  propose  to  do  something.  I  may  not  see  the 
advisability,  but  because  there  is  action  in  it,  I  never 
object.  Oh!  for  somebody  to  "do  with  their  might 


232  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

what  their  hands  find  to  do."  (Eccles.  9:10.)  "Well 
done"  is  the  best  commendation.  Faith  is  like  the 
wind,  we  cannot  see  it,  but  by  the  quantity  of  motion 
and  commotion.  There  are  workers,  "jerkers"  and 
"shirkers;"  but  through  much  tribulation  and  tempta 
tion  must  we  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The 
counterfeit  proves  the  genuine  dollar ;  counterfeits  are 
not  counterfeited.  So  hypocrites  prove  the  genuine 
Christians.  If  there  were  not  a  genuine  there  would 
not  be  a  hypocrite.  Our  mothers  and  grandmothers 
who  went  into  saloons  praying  and  spilling  the  pois 
oned  slop  of  these  houses  of  crime  and  tears  were 
blessed  in  their  deeds.  Oh !  that  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
would  do  as  they  did,  what  a  reform  would  take  place. 
I  love  the  organization  of  mothers.  I  love  their  holy 
impulses,  but  I  am  heart-sick  at  their  conventionality, 
their  red  tape.  This  organization  could  put  out  of  ex 
istence  every  drinking  hell  in  the  United  States  if  they 
would  demand  it  and  use  the  power  they  have  even 
without  the  ballot. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

IN    NEBRASKA. WHAT    I    DID    WITH    THE    FIRST    MONEY 

I    GAVE   TO   THE    LORD. AT    CONEY    ISLAND. WHAT    I 

SAID    OF    MR.    MCKINLEY. IN    CALIFORNIA. "CRIBS" 

AT  LOS  ANGELES. ARREST  IN  SAN  FRANCISCO. CON 
DEMNED  BY  SOME  MINISTERS. WHISKEY  AND  TO 
BACCO  ADVERTISEMENTS. 

When  I  began  lecturing  I  tried  to  get  into  churches, 
but  only  a  few  would  open  to  me.  I  had  many  induce 
ments  financially  to  go  on  the  stage,  but  I  refused  to 
do  so  for  sometime.  Like  a  little  child  I  have  had  to 
sit  alone,  creep  and  walk.  I  paid  my  fines  by  monthly 
installments  and  in  December  of  1902,  I  settled  with 
the  court  at  Topeka  for  the  "Malicious  destruction  of 
property,"  when,  in  fact,  it  was  the  "Destruction  of 
malicious  property." 

In  the  spring  of  1902,  I  went  to  Nebraska,  under 
the  management  of  Mrs.  M.  A.  S.  Monegan.  She  had 
also  made  dates  for  J.  G.  Woolley  and  other  prominent 
prohibition  lecturers.  She  was  a  thorough  prohibi 
tionist  and  by  conversing  with  her  I  for  the  first  time 
found  the  remedy  for  the  licensed  saloon.  This  is 
"National  Prohibition." 

I  held  a  debate  in  Lincoln  with  Bixbee,  of  the  Jour 
nal,  a  rank  republican,  who  used  only  ridicule  and 
satire,  for  he  had  no  argument  of  course.  I  lectured 
for  and  with  the  "Red  Ribbon  Alliance"  there,  who 
were  so  faithfully  working  and  praying  for  the  aboli 
tion  of  the  saloon.  The  spring  election  in  Lincoln  was 


234:  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OK 

for  prohibition,  but  lost  by  sixty  votes.  William  Jen 
nings  Bryan  lives  there  and  if  he,  the  man  who  poses 
as  a  friend  of  the  people,  had  opened  his  mouth  against 
the  saloon  he  could  have  made  this  great  cause  more 
than  the  sixty  votes.  From  that  time  forth  I  knew 
Bryan  was  for  Bryan  and  what  Bryan  could  get  for 
Bryan. 

T  lectured  at  the  parks  and  chautauquas  in  the  sum 
mer  and  at  fairs  in  the  fall,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  of 
1902,  I  had  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars  which  I 
used  to  build  a  mission  on  Central  Ave.,  Kansas  City, 
Kansas.  In  that  vicinity  were  several  dives  and  I  told 
those  poor  criminals  that  we  would  soon  run  them  out. 
I  had  my  brother,  Campbell  Moore,  to  manage  the 
erection  of  this  brick  building.  The  liquor  men  tried 
to  buy  the  ground  to  hinder  the  work,  but  at  last  the 
building  was  finished.  I  was  offered  seventy-five  dol 
lars  rent  for  the  hall  but  refused  it.  Then  I  went  to 
the  Salvation  Army  barracks  in  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and 
offered  to  give  it  to  them  free  of  rent  if  they  would 
start  a  mission.  They  did  not  see  their  way  clear  to 
accept  it.  My  brother  told  me  of  a  property  that 
would  suit  me  better  for  the  purpose  of  a  "Home  for 
Drunkards'  Wives  and  Mothers,"  which  I  was  trying 
to  arrive  at  through  the  mission.  I  went  to  see  this 
property,  and  found  it  to  be  about  two  acres,  with  a 
twenty  room  brick  house  and  a  good  brick  stable  on 
it,  nice  drives  and  forest  trees,  and  while  it  is  in  the 
city,  it  is  on  a  high  elevation  and  as  much  retired  from 
the  dust  and  crowd  as  in  the  country.  Mr.  Simpson, 
the  owner,  sent  me  ten  dollars  while  I  was  in  jail  at 
Wichita,  and  he  was  anxious  to  let  me  have  this  home 


236  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

of  his  that  he  had  improved  himself.  I  purchased  this 
with  the  money  I  got  from  the  other  place,  paying  him 
five  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  owing  the  rest. 
This  place  is  situated  on  Reynolds  and  Grandview 
avenues.  It  was  not  possible  for  me  to  begin  this  en 
terprise  myself,  and  in  speaking  to  Myron  A.  Water 
man,  of  the  Savings  Bank  of  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  he 
suggested  that  the  "Associated  Charities"  of  Kansas 
City,  Kansas,  would  put  it  to  the  use  I  intended.  I 
liked  the  idea.  The  society  became  incorporated  so 
they  could  receive  the  deed,  which  was  a  trust,  for 
should  the  property  be  used  for  other  than  what  it  was 
given  for,  it  will  revert  to  its  former  owner. 

The  society  took  posse.*  don  in  December,  1903,  and 
at  this  writing,  February  1904,  it  is  full,  the  Home  of 
many  poor  and  destitute  who  now  have  a  good  shelter, 
warmth  and  light  free  They  art  expected  to  make 
their  own  living  when  they  can.  Mr.  Simpson  gave 
forty  dollars  to  furnish  one  room.  Th£  local  W.  C.  T. 
U.  have  furnished  their  room  and  have  two  women 
the  wives  of  drunkards  in  it.  I  here  make  a  plea  of 
help  to  enlarge  this  Home.  As  stated  there  are  two 
acres  of  ground  and  one  who  would  give  money  to  this 
would  fulfill  the  command  to  feed  the  hungry  and 
clothe  the  naked;  these  are  the  orphans  and  the  wid 
ows  ;  every  dollar  will  be  put  in  the  bank  of  Heaven. 

My  motive  for  doing  this  was  twofold.  I  wanted  to 
furnish  a  home  for  these,  the  innocent  results  of  the 
saloon,  whose  sad  condition  is  beyond  words  to  de 
scribe.  The  people  burden  themselves  with  taxes  to 
build  jails,  penitentiaries,  alms  houses,  insane  asylum?, 
and  reformatories  to  care  for  the  guilty  results  of  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  237 

saloon.  They  pay  millions  to  prosecute  these  crim 
inals,  the  result  of  the  saloon,  but  no  one  has  ever 
thought  of  a  building,  or  shelter  for  these  women  who 
are  worse  than  widows,  who  are  free  from  any  fault 
in  this  matter,  but  are  the  greatest  sufferers. 

I  have  been  asked  by  my  friends  not  to  call  it  a 
"Home  for  Drunkards'  Wives  and  Mothers,"  for  it 
would  -be  a  reflection  on  the  inmates.  Not  at  all.  The 
condemnation  is  on  the  party  which  makes  a  demand 
for  such  a  home,  by  voting  for  saloons.  The  ques 
tion,  "Why  ?"  will  arise  in  the  minds  of  all  who  see  on 
the  arch  over  the  entrance  to  this  place,  "Home  for 
Drunkards'  Wives  and  Mothers."  Why?  "Because 
of  the  saloon.  Let  us  smash  the  saloon  and  not  these 
women's  homes  and  hearts."  Miss  Edith  Short  is  the 
secretary  and  is  at  the  home  all  the  time,  and  she  is 
the  right  woman  in  the  right  place. 

There  are  many  persons  who  would  like  to  donate 
to  such  a  place.  We  are  waiting  for  funds  to  enlarge 
the  place,  making  rooms,  or  flats  for  these  dear  ones. 
A  letter  directed  to  "Drunkards'  Wives  Home,"  Kan 
sas  City,  Kansas,  will  reach  the  place,  for  there  is  no 
other  of  the  kind  in  the  world.  It  was  such  a  relief 
to  me  when  I  saw  that  what  means  I  could  control  was 
used  in  a  manner  God  would  bless,  and  it  was  a  great 
source  of  joy  to  me  to  do  something  for  this  class.  I 
have  been  a  drunkard's  wife  myself  and  I  know  the 
desolation  of  heart  they  have.  This  is  a  worse  sorrow 
than  to  have  one's  husband  die.  A  wife  always  feels 
that  she  might  have  done  something  to  cause  her  hus 
band  to  drink  or  to  quit.  I  believe  that  some  men  have 
been  led  to  drink  by  women,  but  it  is  a  cowardly  resort, 


238  THE   USE  AND   NEED   OF 

or  excuse,  and  the  man  who  would  make  this  as  an 
excuse  is  as  bad  as  the  woman  who  caused  him  to 
drink,  if  not  worse.  The  thief,  the  murderer,  or  any 
other  class  of  criminals  could  just  as  well  blame  others 
for  their  own  wrong  doings. 

When  I  was  at  Coney  Island,  I  was  asked,  what  I 
thought  of  William  McKinley's  administration?  I 
said:  "I  was  glad  when  McKinley  was  elected  for  I 
had  heard  that  he  was  opposed  to  the  liquor  traffic. 
I  did  not  know  then  that  he  rented  his  wife's  property 
in  Canton,  Ohio  for  saloon  purposes,  and  after  his  elec 
tion  he  had  been  a  constant  disappointment  to  me ;  that 
he  was  the  Brewers'  president  and  did  their  bidding ; 
that  we  as  W.  C.  T.  U.  workers,  sent  petitions,  thou 
sands  of  them  to  Mr.  McKinley  to  have  him  refuse  to 
let  the  canteen  run.  That  we  were  willing  to  give  our 
boys  to  fight  the  battles  of  this  nation,  to  die  in  a  for 
eign  land,  but  we  were  not  willing  that  a  murderer 
should  follow  them  from  their  home  shores  to  kill  their 
bodies'  and  souls."  This  was  said  at  the  time  that  he 
was  thought  to  be  convalescent  from  his  death-wound. 
I  said:  "I  had  no  tears  for  McKinley,  neither  have  I 
any  for  his  assassin.  That  no  one's  life  was  safe  with 
such  a  murderer  at  large."  This  roused  hisses ;  some 
left  the  hall  and  there  was  a  murmer  of  confusion. 
One  man  threw  a  wad  of  paper  at  me,  but  I  said :  "My 
loyality  to  the  homes  of  America  demand  that  I  de 
nounce  such  a  president  and  his  crowd."  It  was  a 
common  thing  to  be  hissed.  Once  I  spoke  in  Sioux 
City,  Iowa,  in  the  church  where  the  martyred  Had 
dock  preached.  The  crowd  was  so  large,  the  church 
was  filled  and  emptied  three  times.  I  had  cheers  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  239 

hisses  at  the  same  time.  At  the  first  meeting  I  was 
talking  at  the  top  of  my  voice,  the  audience  was  clap 
ping  and  hissing  and  a  good  evangelistic  brother  by 
my  side  kept  pounding  his  fist  of  one  hand  into  the 
palm  of  the  other  and  shouting:  "She  is  right!  She 
is  right !"  That  was  a  great  meeting,  and  I  shall  never 
forget  it,  neither  will  anyone  who  was  there.  I  spoke 
three  times  to  audiences  that  night.  I  have  been 
hissed,  and  after  giving  the  people  time  to  think,  have 
been  applauded  by  the  same  parties.  "Oh,  fools  and 
slow  of  heart  to  understand,"  Jesus  said.  (Luke  24: 
25.) 

Murat  Halstead,  who  wrote  the  book  called,  "Our 
Martyred  President  or  the  Illustrious  Life  of  William 
McKinley,"  wrote  some  positive  falsehoods  concern 
ing  me.  This  Halstead  has  always  been  a  defender 
of  anarchy  or  the  licensed  saloon. 

William  McKinley  was  no  martyr.  He  was  mur 
dered  by  a  man  who  was  the  result  of  a  saloon  and 
could  not  tell  why  he  murdered  the  President. 

I  could  tell  of  many  amusing  incidents.  Indeed  I 
could  fill  a  book  of  interesting  anecdotes.  In  the  sum 
mer  of  1902,  while  traveling  among  the  Thousand 
Islands  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  I  met  a  woman  on  the 
boat  who  wore  a  very  low  cut  dress,  with  a  very  long 
train.  Her  face  was  painted,  she  wore  flashy  jewelry, 
with  as  much  exposure  of  person  as  she  dared.  She 
came  to  me  in  an  affected  manner,  and  handed  me  a 
roll  saying:  "I  am  a  temperance  lecturer,  here  is  one 
of  my  bills/' 

I  replied :  "If  you  are  such,  you  had  better  make  a 
practical  application  of  temperance,  and  cover  your- 


240  THE  USE  AND  NEED  OF 

self  up."  The  change  of  her  countenance  was  instan 
taneous  and  she  with  a  queer  almost  startled  look  said : 
"You  go  to  Hell." 

Once  in  Elmira,  N.  Y.  the  streets  were  so  crowded 
that  we  had  to  leave  the  Salvation  Army  Hall.  I 
climbed  in  a  farmer's  two  horse  wagon.  He  came  out 
of  a  saloon  and  gathered  up  the  reins  and  laid  the  whip 
to  his  horses,  which  were  caught  so  as  to  let  me  out. 

Mr.  Furlong,  my  manager,  had  a  keen  sense  of  the 
ridiculous  and  would  let  me  alone  when  I  started  out. 
He  said  he  knew  I  could  take  care  of  myself.  Often 
when  I  would  rise  to  speak  to  the  thousands  in  the 
parks,  there  would  be  yells  and  groans,  and  a  manager 
at  Youngstown,  Ohio,  said  to  Mr.  Furlong:  "She  will 
not  get  a  chance  to  speak."  Mr.  Furlong  said :  "You 
watch  how  she  will  handle  them."  I  would  always 
quiet  them  for  a  time  at  least.  Once  they  were  deter 
mined  not  to  let  me  talk.  I  at  last  went  to  one  side  of 
the  stage  and  began  talking  very  explanatory  to  some 
parties  in  front.  The  rest  wanted  to  hear,  so  they 
were  quiet.  Then  I  gave  them  the  hot-shots  of  truth. 
I  always  invited  interruptions  by  questions.  I  had  no 
set  speech  and  these  questions  would  bring  out  what 
the  crowd  wanted  to  hear.  I  like  especially  the  ques 
tions  from  those  who  oppose  me.  I  have  had  men  to 
shake  their  fists  at  me  saying:  "You  are  an  anarchist 
and  ought  to  be  in  the  lunatic  asylum."  One  agent  of 
a  brewer  in  Hartford,  Connecticut,  kept  on  disturbing 
the  meeting;  at  last  he  said:  "Why  did  Christ  make 
wine  ?"  I  said :  "The  wine  that  He  made  did  not  rot. 
His  was  the  unfermented  juice  of  the  grape.  God 
made  healthily  fruit  and  grain.  The  devil  rots  them 

is 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  .241 

and  makes  alcohol,  which  rots  the  brain,  rots  the  body 
and  rots  the  soul,  and  that  is  what  is  the  matter  with 
you." 

When  I  first  began  my  lectures  I  was  not  taken  ser 
iously  by  the  people.  They  did  not  see  the  great  prin 
ciple  back  of  the  work.  My  manager  said :  "We  must 
make  all  the  dates  this  year,  for  next  year  it  will  not 
be  so  easy."  I  said :  "You  will  find  it  easier,  for  I  will 
be  more  popular."  He  shook  his  head,  but  sure  enough 
it  w,as  easier.  We  could  not  fill  the  dates,  and  now  the 
calls  are  more  and  more  all  over  the  country. 

In  the  winter  and  spring  of  1903,  I  was  in  Cali 
fornia.  I  was  employed  by  the  theatrical  manager  of 
the  "Chutes."  Beer  was  sold  at  this  resort.  Some 
W.  C.  T.  U.'s  were  very  much  horrified  that  I  would 
go  to  such  a  place.  Mrs.  Hester  T.  Griffith,  the  presi 
dent  of  the  Federation  of  Unions  in  Los  Angeles,  came 
to  see  me.  She  had  been  a  staunch  friend  of  mine 
from  the  first  and  she  went  with  me  to  the  "Chutes" 
and  introduced  me.  This  she  did  time  and  again  say 
ing:  "If  she  had  the  opportunity  to  speak  at  the 
"Chutes"  she  would  do  as  Carry  Nation  does."  This 
woman  was  a  blessing  to  me.  She  helped  me  to  see 
that  the  stage  was  a  mission  field.  I  was  severely  criti 
cised  by  the  newspapers,  and  especially  by  some  of  the 
ministers.  One  from  Rockford,  Illinois,  a  Rev.  Dr. 
Van  Horn,  wrote  a  very  slanderous  article  which  I 
heard  of  through  my  friends  there.  I  was  arrested  in 
Los  Angeles  for  some  advertising  my  manager  did 
which  was  contrary  to  a  city  ordinance. 

In  Los  Angeles  I  saw  what  was  called  the  "Cribs," 
one  of  the  most  disgraceful  conditions.  No  one  stayed 


24:2  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

there  during  the  day;  they  were  there  just  for  the 
night  only.  These  poor  degraded  girls  would  pay  two 
dollars  a  night  to  the  owners.  I  said  to  the  women: 
"These  city  officials  are  at  the  bottom  of  this.  Let  us 
go  to  the  Chief  of  Police,"  whose  name  was  Yelton. 
He  would  not  talk  to  me  at  first.  He  said:  "If  we 
close  these  places,  these  degraded  girls  will  be  over  the 
town,"  when  in  fact  the  girls  were  in  town  during  the 
day  and  only  stay  there  at  night.  I  have  seen  so  much 
of  the  corruption  of  the  officials  that  when  conditions 
are  bad  in  any  place  I  know  it  to  be  their  fault. 

We  went  as  a  band  of  missionaries  to  these  dens  of 
vice.  At  first  an  officer  would  go  before  us  and  have 
the  girls  pull  their  blinds  down  to  prevent  us  from  see 
ing  or  speaking  to  them.  We  found  hundreds  of  them 
who  could  not  speak  the  English  language,  they  had 
been  brought  over  by  procurers  for  the  purpose  of 
swelling  the  ranks  of  this  vice.  Mrs.  Charlton  Ed- 
holm  who  wrote  "Traffic  in  Girls,"  was  there  helping 
to  rid  the  city  of  this  disgrace.  Her  book  should  be 
in  the  hands  of  every  girl  in  the  world.  This  grand 
woman  has  devoted  her  life  work  to  the  rescue  of  girls. 
She  is  in  Oakland,  California,  where  she  has  a  "Rescue 
Home."  Anyone  can  get  the  book  by  writing  her.  I 
also  met  Mrs.  Sobieski,  wife  of  Col.  John  Sobieski. 
Sister  Sobieski  is  one  who  never  tires  in  the  work  for 
God.  She  is  a  terror  to  evil  doers.  God  bless  these 
women  for  their  zeal.  I  found  some  of  the  most  ag 
gressive  Christian  W.  C.  T.  U.  women  I  have  ever 
seen  in  Los  Angeles,  California.  I  am  glad  to  say  that 
in  less  than  a  year  from  the  time  I  was  there  the 
"Cribs"  were  closed. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  243 

I  was  arrested  in  San  Francisco  and  spent  most  of 
the  night  in  jail.  I  was  put  in  for  destroying  a  bottle 
of  whiskey  in  this  way :  A  certain  saloon-keeper  had 
just  finished  a  very  fine  "criminal  factory"  and  he 
wanted  to  advertise  it.  He  sent  me  word  by  my  man 
ager  to  call  and  smash  this  place  up.  He  had  a  fine 
mirror  he  paid  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for,  that 
he  wanted  me  to  smash.  I  knew  that  all  he  wanted 
was  an  advertisement,  but  I  went,  not  saying  what  I 
would  do.  He  had  reporters  and  the  house  was  crowd 
ed.  I  got  up  on  a  table  to  make  a  speech,  which,  I  did 
in  this  fashion :  "This  man  has  opened  a  place  to  drug 
and  rob  poor  victims.  There  are  no  clothes,  no  food, 
no  books  here,  nothing  but  what  degrades  men  and 
women."  Some  one  handed  me  a  large  empty  bottle. 
I  said :  'No  I  want  a  bottle  that  has  some  of  that  fiery 
poison  in  it."  I  was  given  a  quart  of  whiskey.  I  held 
it  up  and  said,:  "None  but  God  knows  the  sorrows  in 
this  bottle,  the  headaches,  the  heartaches,  the  desola 
tion,  but  there  is  no  blessing  or  happiness  connected 
with  it.  I  will  do  with  this  what  ought  to  be  done  with 
all  its  kind."  So  I  threw  it  as  quickly  as  I  could  be 
hind  the  bar  on  the  floor.  It  fell  in  with  some  others 
and  made  a  great  smash.  I  said :  "The  man  wished  me 
to  make  a  hole  in  that  large  mirror  so  that  curiosity 
would  draw  others  into  this  snare  to  catch  our  boys." 
I  gave  the  best  rebuke  for  the  occasion  I  could,  then 
I  went  to  my  hotel,  retired,  and  about  twelve  o'clock 
an  officer  came  to  my  door.  I  dressed  and  went  with 
him  to  the  station.  I  stayed  there  until  nearly  three 
in  the  morning.  While  there  I  saw  one  continual 
stream  of  poor,  drunken  wretches,  men  and  women, 


244  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

brought  in.  My  manager  came  and  took  me  out  on 
bail.  Next  morning  I  appeared  in  court,  was  my  own 
lawyer.  The  case  was  put  off  two  days,  then  I  was 
discharged.  The  saloon  keeper  withdrew  the  charge. 
This  was  done  to  advertise  this  man  but  the  way  that 
I  advertise  has  never  done  the  whiskey  business  any 
good. 

There  is  a  great  art  in  advertising.  Jacob  was  the 
first  one  I  read  of  in  the  Bible  who  was  aware  of  this 
art  and  science,  when  he  placed  the  rods  before  the 
cattle.  The  eye  is  the  window  by  which  no  business 
in  America  is  so  much  advertised  as  the  whiskey  and 
tobacco  business.  Both  are  destructive  in  their  influ 
ence  on  the  morals  and  the  health  of  the  people.  We 
would  be  better  off  without  these  articles.  The  inter 
est  of  these  manufactories  are  built  up  in  proportion 
as  they  can  catch  the  unwary  who  see  these  signs  that 
are  suggestive.  One  of  the  most  notorious  signs  is 
"Wilson's  Whiskey  That's  All."  Yes  that  is  all  it 
takes  to  ruin  your  homes.  That  is  all  it  takes  to  break 
a  mother's  heart.  That  is  all  that  is  needed  to  build 
houses  of  prostitution,  and  that  is  all  that  it  requires 
to  break  up  every  impulse  of  justice,  love  and  happi 
ness.  That  is  all  that  it  takes  to  fill  hell.  How  my 
heart  is  stirred  when  I  see  this,  "Remember  me,  Oh, 
my  God!" 

Whiskey  or  tobacco  never  introduce  their  products 
by  reason  or  arguments,  they  never  appeal  to  thought, 
but  suggestion  or  temptation,  and  as  oft  as  the  eye  is 
lifted,  as  one  walks  up  the  streets  of  our  cities  there 
are  hundreds  of  advertisements  to  meet  the  gaze ;  most 
every  one  has  a  false  basis.  For  instance  there  is  a 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  245 

sign:  "Old  Crow  Whiskey."  This  is  slandering  the 
crow,  for  there  is  not  a  crow  or  vulture  that  will  use 
a  drop  of  this  slop.  There  is :  "Chew  Bull-dog  Twist," 
and  "Bull  Durham  Tobacco."  There  is  not  a  dog  or 
bull  that  uses  tobacco.  There  is  the,  "Royal  Bengal 
Tiger  Cigarettes."  This  is  taking  advantage  of  these 
animals  because  they  cannot  defend  themselves.  There 
is  the  "Robert  Burns  and  Tom  Moore  cigars."  There 
was  not  a  cigar  in  England  when  Burns  or  Tom  Moore 
lived.  I  have  seen  a  life-size  picture  of  Abraham  Lin 
coln  advertising  cigars,  when  Lincoln  was  a  teetotaler 
from  cigars  or  any  intoxicating  drink.  He  promised 
his  mother  that  he  would  never  use  them  and  kept  his 
promise  to  his  death.  This  is  slandering  the  dead.  I 
never  remember  seeing  the  "Grant  Cigar."  His  name 
not  used,  because  he  died  with  tobacco  cancer.  It  is 
said  that  Mr.  McKinley  would  have  recovered,  but  his 
blood  was  bad  from  nicotine. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

MY    VISIT    TO    WASHINGTON,    D.     C. ARRESTED    IN     TI1K 

SENATE    CHAMBER. TAKEN    OUT    BY    OFFICERS. THE 

VICES  OF   COLLEGES,   ESPECIALLY   YALE. ROOSEVELT   A 

DIVE-KEEPER. 

In  February  of  1904,  I  went  to  Washington,  pur 
posely  to  call  on  Mr.  Roosevelt,  the  President.  I  was 
refused  an  audience.  While  in  the  office  of  Secretary 
Loeb,  a  delegation  of  politicians,  republicans  and  dem 
ocrats,  came  out  of  the  president's  apartments  bowing 
and  smiling  at  one  another  as  if  they  were  the  best  of 
friends. 

I  asked  them  what  difference  there  was  in  their 
parties?  They  looked  silly  and  said  nothing.  Mr. 
Loeb  said :  "We  do  not  wish  any  questions  on  the  sub 
ject."  I  said:  "It  is  a  civil  question,  it  ought  to  have 
a  civil  answer."  Mr.  Loeb  called  to  a  policeman  to 
take  me  out.  I  said :  "If  I  was  a  brewer  or  distiller  I 
could  have  an  interview.  As  a  representative  mother, 
I  ought  to  be  received."  I  wished  to  ask  Mr.  Roosevelt 
why  he  practiced  the  vice  of  smoking  cigarettes  ?  Why 
he  has  never  said  a  word  against  the  licensed  saloon 
when  it  is  the  greatest  question  that  ever  confronted 
the  homes  of  America?"  Why  he  had  a  coat  of  arms 
on  his  flag?  Why  he  brought  a  dive  into  Kansas?"  I 
was  taken  outside  in  a  very  orderly  manner  by  two 
policemen,  something  unusual,  for  I  am  hustled  and 
dragged  generally. 

Then  I  went  to  the  Capitol.    I  called  to  see  Senator 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  247 

Cockrell  from  Missouri.  I  asked  him  his  opinion  on 
the  liquor  traffic.  He  got  excited  immediately.  He 
said:  "I  want  no  one  to  mention  that  subject  to  me." 
I  said :  "It  is  strange  to  me  that  you  do  not  want  to 
converse  on  the  greatest  subject  before  the  American 
people."  He  became  so  indignant  that  he  stamped  his 
foot  and  threatened  to  have  me  put  out  of  the  build 
ing.  I  also  became  indignant,  and  stamped  my  foot, 
and  said :  "Down  with  your  treason  !  Down  with  your 
saloons !  You  are  sent  here  to  represent  the  interests 
of  the  mothers  and  their  children,  and  you  insult  a 
representative  mother  because  you  are  representing  the 
interests  of  the  brewers  and  distillers."  .During,  this 
speech  of  mine  he  was  making  tracks  up  the  corridor. 
Then  I  went  to  the  House  of  Representatives  and  the 
Senate  Chamber.  My  "spirit  was  stirred  within  me," 
(Acts  17:16,)  to  see  at  the  head  of  the  American  peo 
ple  the  bitterest  enemies  to  the  defense  of  the  homes 
of  America,  the  homes  our  forefathers  intended  to 
secure  to  this  people.  I  wanted  to  do  some  "Hatch- 
etation,"  that  not  being  possible,  I  thought  I  would  do 
some  agitation.  I  took  a  position  in  a  lobby  near  a 
door.  I  rose  to  my  feet,  and  with  a  volume  of  voice 
that  was  distinctly  heard  all  over  the  halls  I  cried 
aloud :  "Treason,  anarchy  and  conspiracy !  Discuss 
these !"  I  knew  that  I  would  be  put  out,  but  I  selected 
these  three  words  to  call  the  attention  to  the  fact  that 
these  were  more  necessary  to  be  discussed  than  any 
other  subjects.  And  these  were  the  very  ones  they 
were  avoiding  most.  I  was  taken  down  to  the  police 
station.  Court  was  in  session.  I  had  my  trial  and  was 
fined  twenty-five  dollars.  I  made  my  own  plea  before 


248  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

Judge  Kimball,  as  I  had  no  lawyer.  I  justified  myself 
upon  the  same  principle  that  a  man  would  to  give  a 
fire  alarm.  The  Judge  said  that  he  sympathized  with 
my  cause  but  he  gave  me  the  maximum  fine.  I  have 
had  just  such  sympathy  as  this  from  all  republican 
judges.  The  kind  of  sympathy  that  a  cat  has  for  a 
mouse  when  she  crushes  its  bones  between  her  teeth. 

I  am  a  loyal  American.  We  want  true  Americans 
to  represent  the  principles  of  Americans.  I  had  my 
prejudice  increased  against  Mr.  Roosevelt  when  I 
heard  of  the  "coat  of  arms"  on  his  flag,  in  violation  of 
every  principle  of  American  citizenship.  We  have  no 
"my  lords"  in  this  country.  The  people  rule  here  and 
not  the  president,  for  he  is  the  servant.  The  brewers 
of  America  are  mostly  German  and  Dutch,  and  of 
course  the  Dutch  president  is  their  friend.  Roosevelt 
is  a  Mason,  a  Red  Man  and  also  a  member  of  the  Or 
der  of  Eagles,  the  strongest  liquor  organization  in  the 
United  States.  Oh,  shade  of  American  heroes  look 
down  and  condemn  this  outrage  to  your  ashes.  I  have 
it  from  three  eye  witnesses  that  Roosevelt  smokes  and 
did  smoke  cigarettes.  His  secretary,  Mr.  Loeb,  denied 
this  to  Mrs.  Dye  Ellis,  but  Mr.  Roosevelt  dare  not 
deny  it.  The  minister  for  Mr.  McKinley  denied  he 
rented  his  property  for  saloon  purposes,  but  the  Chi 
cago  New  Voice  proved  he  did.  I  am  so  true  a  Daugh 
ter  of  the  Revolution  that  such  a  president  as  Theo 
dore  Roosevelt  is  an  insult  to  my  sires.  And  last 
March  when  he  came  to  Topeka,  Kansas,  he  outraged 
every  loyal  citizen  of  the  state  by  bringing  into  it  a 
dive  in  his  private  car  and  all  who  wished  an  intoxicat 
ing  drink  could  get  it  by  tipping  the  waiter.  Let 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  249 

Roosevelt's  ministers  deny  this  for  him  also.  He 
ought  to  have  been  arrested  as  any  other  dive-keeper. 
This  President  who  enjoys  the  sport  of  killing  in 
nocent  animals,  this  man  who  costs  the  people  more 
than  any  other  president,  who  has  so  little  regard  for 
the  people's  treasury  that  he  spent  a  quarter  of  a  mil 
lion  to  look  at  the  American  fleet  and  took  the  treas 
ured  relics  of  the  people  and  sold  them  to  a  Junk  shop. 
Vandalism ! 

MY  VISIT  TO  YALE  UNIVERSITY. 

I  have  been  to  all  the  principal  Universities  of  the 
United  States.  At  Cambridge,  where  Harvard  is  sit 
uated,  there  are  no  saloons  allowed,  but  in  Ann  Arbor 
the  places  are  thick  where  manhood  is  drugged  and 
destroyed.  Also  Yale,  the  latter  being  the  worst  I 
have  ever  seen.  I  will  insert  two  letters  which  I  got 
on  March  1st,  1904,  and  have  received  several  more  of 
the  same  kind  from  the  students: 

"Dear  Mrs.  Nation: — As  an  ardent  prohibitionist 
and  an  enemy  of  the  liquor  traffic,  I  feel  obliged  to 
bring  to  your  notice  some  of  the  things  that  are  served 
to  the  young  men  at  Yale  Dining  Hall  by  the  college 
authorities."  (In  this  letter  were  several  bills  of  fare.) 
''You  will  see  how  many  of  the  dishes  are  served  with 
intoxicating  liquors  as  sauces.  Yale  is  supposed  to  be 
a  Christian  College,  but  to  give  these  poisons  by  con 
sent  of  the  college  authorities  is  nothing  more  or  less 
than  starting  them  on  the  road  to  hell !  Please  give 
this  matter  your  earnest  attention  and  see  if  you  can 
not  stamp  this  serpent  out." 

"Dear  Mrs.  Nation : — Although    it  pains  me  deeply, 


250  THE    USE   AND   NEED  OF 

I  feel  it  my  duty  to  inform  you  that  even  after  your 
soul-stirring  address  of  warning  and  reproof,  the  Devil 
still  grins  at  Yale  Dining  Hall.  The  enclosed  menus 
tell  the  story.  The  hateful  practice  of  serving  intox 
icating  liquors  has  not  ceased.  Capt.  Smoke  holds 
open  wide  the  gates  of  hell.  Oh,  this  is  terrible !  Sa 
tan  loves  to  shoot  at  brightest  marks. 

"Here  are  eight  hundred  shining  young  souls,  the 
cream  of  the  nation's  manhood,  on  the  broad  road 
which  leadeth  to  destruction.  God  help  us.  Assist  us, 
Mrs.  Nation ;  aid  us ;  pray  for  us.  Let  the  world  know 
of  this  awful  condition  and  rouse  the  public  indigna 
tion  until  it  has  ceased.  Publicity  will  do  it.  Let  the 
world  know  that  Yale  is  being  made  a  training  school 
for  Drunkards,  and  Capt.  Smoke  will  never  dare  to 
serve  liquors  again.  ALONE  BUT  FRIEND  OF  THE  TEM 
PERANCE  CAUSE/' 

I  spoke  to  the  students  at  the  entrance  of  their  din 
ing  hall.  They  spoke  up  and  told  me  that  "Cham 
pagne"  was  served  on  their  ham  three  times  a  week. 
They  gave  me  the  menus,  and  on  them  were:  "Claret 
Wine  Punch,"  "Cherry  Wine  Sauce,"  "Apple  Dump 
ling  and  Brandy  Sauce,"  "Roast  Ham  and  Champagne 
Sauce,"  and  "Wine  Jelly."  While  I  was  talking  to  the 
young  men,  many  were  smoking  cigarettes  in  the  en 
trance  of  the  dining  hall,  which  was  contrary  to  rules, 
but  Capt.  Smoke  only  laughed  at  this  practice  of  vice. 
There  should  be  an  investigation,  and  that  quick.  Stu 
dents  are  crying  for  it.  Faculties  should  demand  of 
students  a  high  standard.  At  Yale  the  students  are 
pleading  for  a  moral  faculty. 

I  then  went  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  found  on  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  251 

first  floor,  billiard  tables,  cigars  and  cigarettes;  they 
also  have  a  "smoking  room."  A  poor  mother  wrote 
to  a  friend  of  mine  in  New  Haven  to  please  use  her 
influence  to  save  the  boys.  That  her  boy  wrote  her 
that  the  brandy  was  so  strong  on  the  food  that  it  made 
his  head  dizzy.  One  poor  boy  said  that  he  did  not  wish 
such  food  but  that  he  had  no  other  to  eat.  Students 
are  crying  out  against  this  outrage.  While  I  was 
there  a  "Smoker"  was  advertised  to  be  held  by  the  law 
students.  A  student  told  me  that  a  beer  wagon  was 
engaged  by  the  Seniors  of  Sheffield  School  of  Yale  for 
their  wrestling  match  procession.  These  Seniors  upon 
application  can  get  a  tin  cup  and  help  themselves  to 
this  rotten  slop  that  will  destroy  their  will-power  and 
make  them  slaves  of  the  drink  habit.  What  can  be 
expected  of  Freshmen  if  Seniors  set  such  an  example  ? 
This  will  show  what  it  leads  to. 

The  demoralization  of  the  students  is  talked  of  uni 
versally.  They  have  what  is  called  Freshman  "Games," 
which  are  as  follows :  "Upon  appointed  evenings  they 
will  meet  at  a  select  hotel.  They  take  their  places 
at  the  table,  then,  each  one  at  the  table,  "sets 
them  up"  for  all  the  rest.  If  there  are  twelve  at  the 
table  each  one  gets  twelve  drinks.  You  can  imagine 
the  "games"  after  such  a  debauch.  I  saw  some  young 
men  there  from  Kansas  and  I  asked  them:  "Why  do 
you  come  to  Yale?"  I  would  never  send  a  boy  of 
mine  to  Yale.  If  I  had  a  hundred  I  would  send  them 
to  a  state,  that  made  such  things  a  crime.  Here  is  a 
college  that  has  received  denations  of  millions  lately, 
that  young  men  may  be  prepared  and  fitted  for  sta 
tions  of  moral,  mental  and  physical  eminence  and  it  is 


252  THE   USE   AND    NEED  OF 

a  school  of  vice  to  a  great  extent.  The  distillers  and 
brewers  dominate  the  republican  party  and  they  are 
the  controlling  party  at  Yale  and  will  desolate  and  en 
slave  our  darling  boys.  I  went  to  see  the  president  of 
Yale,  Professor  Hadley,  and  I  asked  him  about  these 
things.  He  said  he  thought  the  intoxicants  were  "fruit 
juices."  I  spoke  of  the  smoking.  He  said  he  used  to 
think  it  was  wrong  but  when  he  went  to  Germany  he 
saw  they  smoked  there.  He  was  taught  it  was  wrong 
in  America,  but  when  he  saw  it  in  Germany  he  thought 
better  of  the  vice  and  is  now  teaching  it  to  our  boys. 
People  ought  to  demand  another  faculty  or  refuse  to 
patronize  such  a  school. 

While  I  was  at  Harvard  I  saw  Professors  smoking 
cigarettes.  Parents  should  demand  that  the  teachers 
in  these  colleges  and  schools  should  be  free  from  the 
practice  of  the  vices  of  drinking  intoxicating  liquors 
and  the  use  of  tobacco.  I  hope  we  will  have  some  gen 
erous  hearted  man  who  will  donate  to  build  a  college 
in  Kansas  with  the  capacity  of  Yale.  What  a  shame 
to  have  professors  in  our  schools  aping  the  vices  of 
foreigners. 

These  same  professors  are  the  followers  of  Huxley 
and  Herbert  Spencer,  who  did  far  more  to  make  the 
world  ignorant  than  wise.  Huxley  saw  in  man  only 
the  elements  of  a  weed.  Herbert  Spencer  would  have 
destroyed  all  family  life.  Such  men  as  these  degrade 
thought  and  see  only  the  animal.  "For  after  that  in 
the  wisdom  of  God,  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not 
God,  yet  it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching 
to  save  them  that  believe.  But  God  hath  chosen  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  253 

foolish  things  of  this  world  to  confound  the"  wise."  (1 
Cor.  21,  27.) 

The  great  controversy  between  Yale  and  Harvard 
now,  is,  which  shall  excel  in  brute  force,  and  foot-ball 
seems  to  be  the  test.  Colleges  were  founded  for  the 
purpose  of  educating  the  young,  on  moral,  intellectual, 
and  spiritual  lines.  The  test  of  these  is  oratory,  de 
bate,  intellectual  contests.  It  used  to  be  conceded,  that 
the  mind  made  the  man,  now  the  forces  of  the  mule 
and  ox  are  preferred. 

Taft,  of  the  noted  LTaft'  Cigar  had  position  of  lec 
turer,  and  the  inference  is,  there  will  be  more  vile 
cigars  smoked  than  ever,  under  such  patronage. 

Oh,  mothers  and  fathers !  Rise  in  protest  against 
these  outrages.  There  is  more  infidelity  taught  by  col 
lege  men  than  any  where  else.  Professor  Elliott  of 
Yale  rejects  miracles  and  of  course  the  inspiration  of 
the  Bible.  Like  a  festering  boil,  the  corruption  is 
drawing  to  a  head.  Let  us'  open  with  the  Hatchet  of 
Truth.— The  Bible. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

PROHIBITION    OR    ABOLITION. WHAT    IT    MEANS. 

God  is  a  politician ;  so  is  the  devil.  God's  politics 
are  to  protect  and  defend  mankind,  bringing  to  them 
the  highest  good  and  finally  heaven.  The  devil's  pol 
itics  are  to  deceive,  degrade  and  to  make  miserable, 
finally  ending  in  hell.  The  Bible  fully  explains  this. 
The  two  kinds  of  seed  started  out  from  Abel  and  Cain, 
then  Ishmael  and  Isaac,  Esau  and  Jacob.  There  are 
but  these  two  kinds  of  people.  God's  crowd  and  the 
Devil's  crowd.  The  first  law  given  and  broken  in 
Eden  was  a  prohibition  law.  God  said:  "Thou  shalt 
not."  The  devil  tempted  and  persuaded  the  first  pair 
to  disobey.  He  did  it  by  deceiving  the  woman.  The 
fact  of  redemption  now  is  to  bring  them  back  to  the 
law  of  God.  What  is  law?  God  says  that  sin  is  a 
transgression  of  law.  Blackstone  says :  "Law  com 
mands  that  which  is  right  and  prohibits  that  which  is 
wrong."  Law  is  one,  as  truth  is  one.  It  is  not  pos 
sible  to  make  a  bad  law.  If  it  is  bad,  is  is  not  a  law. 
We  have  bad  statutes.  Law  is  always  right.  Nothing 
is  wrong  that  is  legal,  and  wrong  may  be  licensed,  but 
never  legalized.  I  find  lawyers  who  do  not  under 
stand  this.  I  often  hear  the  term  "legalized  saloon." 
Wrhen  I  was  passing  the  building  of  the  supreme  court 
in  New  York  City,  on  Madison  Avenue,  I  read  an  in 
scription  on  one  of  the  marble  statutes  representing  a 
judge  with  a  book  on  either  side  of  the  door:  "Every 
law  not  based  on  wisdom  is  a  menace  to  the  state." 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  255 

This  is  a  false,  misleading  sentence  for  all  law  is  wis 
dom.  It  might  have  read :  "All  statutes  not  based  on 
wisdom,  are  a  menace  to  the  state."  Then  at  the  base 
of  the  statue  of  a  soldier,  on  the  other  side  of  the  en 
trance,  was  this  statement :  "We  do  not  use  force  until 
good  laws  are  defied."  Which  ought  to  read:  "We 
do  not  use  force  until  laws  are  defied."  Such  ideas 
as  these  are  corrupting  courts,  and  biasing  the  public 
mind,  and  the  injury  is  more  than  apparent  to  the  ob 
server.  If  law  is  not  a  standard,  what  standard  can 
we  have?  We  must  have  one.  We  repeat  again: 
"Law  commands  that  which  is  right  and  prohibits  that 
which  is  wrong."  Any  statute  that  does  this  is  lawful. 
Any  that  does  not,  is  anarchy. 

God  is  truly  the  author  of  law.  The  theocratic  form 
of  government  was  perfect  and  the  only  perfect  gov 
ernment  that  ever  existed,  we  need  no  other  statutes 
than  those  that  God  gave.  He  said:  "We  must  not 
kill  a  bird  sitting  on  her  young;  must  not  see  our 
enemy's  beast  fall  under  his  burden  and  not  help  him 
rise."  And  the  refinement  of  mercy  was  taught  in  the 
statute  that  said.  "You  must  not  kill  the  mother  and 
lamb  in  one  day ;  must  not  seethe  a  kid  in  its  mother's 
milk ;  must  not  muzzle  the  ox  that  treadeth  out  the 
corn."  The  use,  and  the  only  use,  of  law  is  to  pre 
vent  and  punish  for  sin.  All  law  has  a  penalty  for 
those  who  violate  it.  Governments  that  are  the  great 
est  blessing  to  its  citizens  are  those  who  can  prohibit, 
or  abolish  the  most  sin  or  crime.  Crime  is  not  pre 
vented  by  toleration,  but  by  prohibition.  Nine  of  the 
ten  commandments  are  prohibitive  and  begin  with, 
"Thou  shalt  not." 


256  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

The  success  of  life,  the  formation  of  character,  is  in 
proportion  to  the  courage  one  has  to  say  to  one's  own- 
self  :  ''Thou  shalt  not."  (Exod.  20.)  It  is  not  the  man 
or  woman  who  has  no  temptation  to  sin,  "who  has  the 
strong  character,  but  the  man  or  woman  who  has  the 
desire  but  will  not  yield  to  sin.  Some  people  ask :  Why 
did  God  make  the  Devil  ?  the  Devil  is  God's  fire.  Like 
an  alchemist  God  is  purifying  souls.  The  Devil  is  an 
agent  in  salvation.  Every  Devil  in  hell  is  harnessed 
up  to  push  every  saint  into  heaven. 

Those  who  are  counted  worthy  to  enter  into  the  de 
lights  of  that  heavenly  land  are  those  who  have  had 
'their  "fiery  trials,"  (I  Pet.  4:12)  tried  and  made  white. 
Man  would  have  no  credit  and  could  not  hear,  "Good 
and  faithful  servant"  if  he  had  no  temptations  to  do 
otherwise,  man  would  be  but  a  mere  machine. 

God  has  never  used  for  his  work,  any  but  those  who 
prohibit  evil.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers  were  forced  from 
the  mother  country  because  this  principle  of  prohibi 
tion  burned  in  their  hearts.  When  England  would  op 
pose  the  colonies,  it  was  prohibition  that  smashed  the 
tea,  over  in  Boston  harbor.  George  Washington  was 
put  at  the  head  of  the  colonial  armies  that  prohibited, 
by  much  bloodshed  and  suffering,  the  oppression  from 
the  mother  country.  Our  Civil  War  was  the  result  of 
the  principle  to  abolish  or  prohibit  the  slavery  of  the 
colored  race.  Now  we  have  a  worse  slavery  than  Eng 
land  threatened  us  with  or  the  poor  blacks  suffered  at 
the  hands  of  their  taskmasters.  'This  slavery  of  soul 
and  body,  is  one  that  leads  to  eternal  death.  The 
forces  of  darkness  and  death  are  with  those  who  are 
willing  to  be  led  captive  by  the  Devil  at  his  will,  and 

16 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  257 

to  lead  others  under  this  grievous  yoke  of  those  who 
are  trying  to  perpetuate  the  cause  of  evil. 

There  are  men  who  desire  to  be  loyal,  who  are  vot 
ing  for  license  or  in  license  parties,  because  they  do 
not  stop  to  think.  The  people  are  generally  right  on 
all  questions.  Edmund  Burke,  the  greatest  English 
statesman,  said :  "The  people  have  as  good  govern 
ment  as  they  deserve."  Because  the  people  have 
always  had  the  power,  and  in  America  especially, 
they  are  sovereign.  The  president  and  all  others 
in  office,  are  but  servants  of  the  people.  In  another 
chapter  I  have  given  what  the  supreme  court  says 
about  the  impossibility  of  licensing  wrong  by  law,  or 
according  to  law. 

Hear  the  language  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence  :  "We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self  evident,  that  all 
men  are  created  free  and  equal,  that  they  are  endowed 
by  their  creator,  with  certain  inalienable  right ;  that 
among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  hap 
piness,  that  to  secure  these  rights,  governments  are 
instituted  among  men  deriving  their  just  powers  from 
the  consent  of  the  governed."  The  licensing  of  intox 
icating  drink  results  in  suicide  and  murder,  whether 
or  not  the  saloon-keeper  or  state  be  held  responsible. 
Some  one  is.  Who  ?  The  man  who  consents  to  or  aids 
by  his  vote  is  most  criminal.  It  is  said  that  drink  kills 
a  man  a  minute.  Suppose  that  we  had  a  war  that  kill 
ed  a  man  every  five  minutes.  Would  there  not  be 
howling  for  an  end  of  bloodshed.  This  is  more  than 
ten  times  worse,  for  the  soul  is  more  valuable  than  the 
body.  A  vote  is  a  demand  for  certain  conditions  in 
corporated  in  the  platform  of  a  certain  political  party. 


258  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

What  is  the  most  vital  question  now  that  presents  its- 
self  to  every  voter.  The  abolition  of  the  common  foe, 
the  license. 

The  principles  of  government  are  founded  on  liberty 
and  self-control.  Drunkenness  is  a  loss  of  self-con 
trol.  Anything  that  animalizes  men,  is  a  menace  to 
the  life  of  the  state  and  prevents  the  purpose  of  gov 
ernment.  Thus  placing  the  weapon  of  destruction 
in  the  hands  of  its  foes  and  the  danger  is  great,  be 
cause  so  many  citizens  arerunder  the  domination  of 
their  evil  passions.  This  class  is  being  multiplied 
by  this  licensed  crime.  These  willing  classes  are 
an  integral  part  of  the  nation.  By  licensing  rum,  we 
are  fostering  a  power  that  is  increasing  the  weakness, 
and  preventing  the  self-control  of  its  citizens.  This  is 
conspiracy,  treason,  black  as  night.  Some  plead  the 
revenue  of  our  wealth.  Our  wealth  is  in  our  citizens. 
The  state  cannot  add  to  its  treasury  at  the  expense  of 
its  manhood  without  punishing  herself.  The  state 
must  guard  the  character  of  its  citizens.  It  can  not 
make  them  honest,  but  it  must  punish  dishonesty ;  can 
not  make  them  humane,  but  it  must  prohibit  an  act  of 
inhumanity;  and  should  oppose  and  forbid  every  li 
cense  that  man  would  desire  or  try  to  obtain  that  which 
would  allow  such  gratification  of  the  animal  over  the 
moral. 

The  nation  is  what  its  homes  are.  The  family  first, 
then  the  nation.  Nothing  can  injure  an  individual  or 
a  family  that  is  not  an  injury  to  the  state.  The  fight 
for  firesides  means  a  fight  for  our  national  life.  Our 
revolutionary  sires  fought  for  this. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.    NATION.  259 

Good  citizenship  not  only  requires  one  to  obey  law, 
but  compels  others  to  obey  law  as  well.  We  must  pro 
hibit  as  far  as  possible,  the  opportunity  for  any  one  to 
do  wrong.  The  license  voter  opens  the  flood-gates  of 
crime  and  trouble  of  all  kinds,  and  is  more  responsible 
and  dangerous  than  the  saloon  keeper  or  publican. 
These  hell  holes  are  the  effects  of  the  license  voter — 
the  cause  of  the  effect.  The  saloon  keeper  is  the  agent 
of  the  Republican  voter.  Ask  yourself,  license  voter, 
while  you  are  voting  to  license  this  wrong,  who  votes 
to  save  your  home?  Your  boy  is  sacrificed  to  carry 
out  the  intent  of  your  ballot.  How  long,  O  Lord,  how 
long! 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

DR.    MCFARLAND'S    PROTEST. — KICKED    AND    KNOCKED 

DOWN  BY  CHAPMAN  OF  BANGOR  HOUSE. MEDDLING 

WITH  THE  DEVIL. TIMELY  WARNING  TO  OUR  BOYS 

AND  GIRLS. BRUBAKER  OF  PEORIA. WITCHCRAFT. 

ARRESTED  AND   PUT   IN   JAIL  IN   PHILADELPHIA.— 
THIRD  TIME  IN  JAIL  IN  PITTSBURG. 

The  determination  of  that  rum  anarchy  in  Topeka, 
Kansas,  was  such  that  three  consecutive  times  I  was 
put  in  jail  because  I  went  into  these  vile  dens.  Dr. 
McFarland,  pastor  of  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  of  Topeka,  came  down  at  my  trial  to  see  what 
the  trouble  was.  The  police,  when  put  on  the  witness 
stand,  swore  positive  falsehoods  and  Judge  Magaw, 
the  republican  police  judge,  appointed  there  by  the 
democratic  Mayor,  Parker,  that  these  two  might  unite 
their  force  of  corruption,  knew  that  these  police  were 
swearing  falsehood  but  were  winking  at  the  crime.  I 
saw  that  the  Doctor  was  getting  ready  to  offer  his  pro 
test  when  the  time  came,  and  it  came  when  I  was  sen 
tenced  to  jail  for  contempt  of  court,  because  I  insisted 
on  asking  what  kind  of  business  these  dive-keepers 
were  carrying  on,  which  the  judge  wanted  to  keep  out 
of  the  witnesses'  mouths.  Dr.  McFarland  arose  and 
said:  "This  is  an  infernal  shame."  "I  say,  this  is 
an  infernal  shame,"  repeating  it  the  second  time. 
Judge  Magaw  said:  "I  will  fine  you  twenty-five 
dollars."  "You  may  make  it  a  hundred."  "Well, 
I  will  make  it  a  hundred,"  said  Judge  Magaw.  I  was 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  261 

taken  to  jail.  Dr.  McFarland  was  not,  but  walked  out 
and  said  it  was  worth  a  hundred  dollars  to  tell  them 
what  he  thought  of  such  travesty  on  justice.  Dr.  Mc 
Farland  had  plenty  of  friends  who  offered  to  pay  the 
amount,  but  I  believe  he  paid  it  himself.  Then  he  be 
gan  some  investigation  of  the  corruption  at  the  police 
station.  He  preached  a  sermon  telling  of  this.  It  was 
published.  I  was  in  jail  next  door  to  the  room  in 
which  the  mayor,  Parker,  and  the  police  gathered  to 
discuss  a  suit  for  slander  against  Dr.  McFarland,  but 
it  was  only  a  bluff.  Before  this  all  night  long  there 
was  loud  talking  and  swearing  in  the  room  under 
mine,  as  if  around  a  card  table.  After  Dr.  McFar- 
land's  sermon  I  heard  no  more  of  it.  There  were  sev 
eral  of  these  poor  degraded  girls  in  jail.  ,  I  knew  of 
actions  and  words  that  were  not  decent  between  the 
officers  and  these  girls.  This  exposure  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Farland's  was  very  salutary.  Before  that,  officers 
would  come  into  my  room  without  knocking  and  au- 
dress  me  in  a  rough  manner.  After  this  they  knocked 
at  the  door  and  were  respectful  and  even  kind.  The 
Reverend  Doctor  did  a  great  work  by  that  sermon 
which  was  to  the  point  and  effective. 

I  went  to  Bangor,  Maine,  to  lecture  once.  I  stopped 
at  the  Bangor  House,  run  by  Chapman.  Roosevelt 
had  stopped  there  just  two  weeks  before.  I  heard  this 
hotel  had  one  of  those  traps,  called  "dives."  When 
I  went  into  the  dining-room  I  asked  a  young  lady  wait 
ing  on  me,  if  she  could  get  me  a  bottle  of  beer?  She 
said  they  kept  it  and  that  she  would  ask  the  head 
waiter  to  get  it  for  me.  She  spoke  to  him.  He  left 
the  dining-room  and  in  a  few  minutes  this  man  Chap- 


262  THE    USE  AND   NEED  OF 

man  came  out  of  the  winding  way  to  his  dive ;  he, 
Chapman,  rushed  up  to  me  in  a  drunken  rage.  He 
threw  me  against  one  of  the  pillars,  then  literally 
knocked  me  out  into  the  hall  in  the  presence  of  the 
guests,  perhaps  a  hundred;  then  he  kept  knocking  me 
down  every  time  I  rose  to  my  feet.  He  would  not 
allow  me  to  get  my  things.  I  was  invited  to  go  home 
with  a  prohibitionist,  Dr.  Marshall.  This  Chapman 
was  a  noted  dive-keeper,  a  rummy,  and  ran  a  repre 
sentative  rum-soaked  republican  hotel.  He  was  angry, 
because  I  dared  to  expose  him,  in  his  sneaking  way  of 
drugging  and  robbing  his  guests.  It  was  marvelous 
what  rages  these  law-breakers  used  to  have  when  I 
came  around  at  first.  It  is  not  so  now.  Their  bands 
have  been  smashed  and  they  are  not  as  bold ;  marvel 
ous  that  I  was  not  seriously  hurt  by  these  animals. 

Once  in  Nebraska  City,  Nebraska,  I  was  knocked  in 
the  temple  by  a  saloon-keeper.  I  reeled  and  fell  and 
while  I  knew  he  struck  me  with  his  clenched  fists  as 
hard  as  he  could,  (so  it  seemed  to  me,)  I  did  not  have 
a  bruise.  ; 

I  always  prayed  to  God  to  take  care  of  me,  but  to 
lead  me  into  these  tumults  to  rouse  the  people  to  think 
and  to  talk. 

THE    BEGINNING    OF    THE     GRAVEYARD     ASSOCIATION    OF 
MEDICINE  LODGE. 

I  used  to  ride  out  north  of  Medicine  Lodge  past  the 
graveyard.  It  was  situated  on  an  elevated  place, 
barren  of  trees,  for  trees  could  not  well  grow  where 
it  was  so  dry.  Graveyards  are  not  pleasant  places  at 
best,  but  to  see  one  barren  of  trees  or  flowers,  just  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  263 

graves,  the  white  marble,  the  sunshine,  rain  and  prairie 
grass,  in  sight  of  the  pleasant  yards  and  homes  of  the 
living,  I  feel  a  sense  of  reproach,  as  if  the  dead  were 
complaining  of  this  neglect.  The  only  ground  Abra 
ham  ever  bought  was  a  piece  of  ground  to  bury  his 
dead  and  it  had  trees  on  it.  I  wanted  to  see  a  better 
condition  of  things.  I  knew  this  neglect  was  because 
no  one  would  make  a  move.  I  felt  I. was  not  the  one, 
but  I  wrote  an  article  for  the  papers,  "Index  and  Cres 
cent,"  of  Medicine  Lodge,  and  I  took  it  to  a  widow, 
Mrs.  Young,  who  had  recently  lost  a  husband  who  was 
very  dear  to  her.  I  told  her  she  was  the  one  to  organ 
ize  a  graveyard  association.  That  this  letter  would 
call  the  ladies  together.  After  making  a  few  changes 
in  the  language  she  published  the  letter,  and  the  ladies 
met,  organized,  and  in  a  few  months  all  was  changed. 
One  will  rarely  find  a^more  attractive  resting  place  for 
our  beloved  dead  than  in  the  cemetery  of  Medicine 
Lodge.  I  could  not  have  effected  what  Mrs.  Young 
did,  but  there  are  more  ways  of  doing  things  than  one, 
and  when  people  say:  "I  can  never  carry  out  any 
plans,"  I  know  they  have  not  tact  or  perseverance. 

MEDDLING  WITH  THE  DEVIL. 

I  never  saw  anything  that  needed  a  rebuke,  or  ex 
hortation,  or  warning,  but  that  I  felt  it  was  my  place 
to  meddle  with  it.  I  have  been  called  a  "meddler." 
Yes  I  say:  It  is  my  place  to  meddle  with  the  devil's 
business.  Jesus  meddled  with  the  law-breakers  in  the 
temple  and  other  places. 

I  will  give  you  a  few  facts  to  prove  what  I  mean 
and  hope  it  will  inspire  my  readers  to  do  likewise. 


264  THE   USE   AND   NEED  'OF 

What  injures  one  is  the  interest  of  all.  We  are  per 
sonally  responsible  for  all  wrong  that  we  neglect  to 
make  right,  when  it  is  in  our  power  to  do  it.  If  any 
thing  injures  my  neighbor  it  injures  me.  If  my  neigh 
bor  is  blessed  so  am  I. 

A  friend  who  lived  a  few  miles  in  the  country  came 
to  my  house  in  Medicine  Lodge,  threw  her  arms 
around  my  neck  and  said :  "Oh,  Sister  Nation,  Mattie 
has  gone  to  Wichita  for  a  bad  purpose.  I  am  almost 
wild ;  can't  you  help  me  ?  She  is  in  love  with  Will,  and 
he  does  not  care  for  her,  but  he  has  gotten  her  into 
trouble  and  does  not  intend  to  marry  her."  She  told 
me  that  Will  wrote  Mattie  a  note  to  go  to  the  Goodyear 
Hotel.  I  wrote  to  Mattie  and  told  her  if  she  became 
the  murderer  of  her  child  that  a  fearful  judgment  was 
in  store  for  her.  I  also  wrote  to  Will  and  told  him  to 
marry  Mattie  or  I  would  expose  him.  Will's  father 
got  the  letter,  as  it  was  directed  to  Medicine  Lodge. 
His  father  came  down  to  see  me,  weeping  as  if  his 
heart  would  break ;  told  me  of  the  trouble  this  boy  had 
given  him ;  said  that  Will  was  preparing  to  marry  an 
other  girl  and  could  not  marry  Mattie,  but  that  he  had 
forwarded  the  letter  to  Will,  as  he  had  gone  to  Wich 
ita.  Will  and  Mattie  got  their  letters  at  the  same  time 
and  were  filled  with  terror.  Both  came  back  to  Med 
icine  Lodge  and  in  a  few  months  poor  Mattie  was  the 
mother  of  a  little  girl.  Her  mother  sent  for  me.  I 
stayed  until  the  little  angel  died.  From  the  time 
Mattie  looked  on  the  face  of  the  little  one  she  loved  it 
with  all  the  intensity  of  a  true  mother  and  grieved  so 
when  it  died.  In  a  few  hours  I  went  to  the  graveyard 
with  the  little  coffin.  This  Will  and  his  father  never 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  265 

spoke  to  me  again.  Will  married  the  other  girl.  In 
a  few  years  father  and  son  were  both  killed.  The  sis 
ter  of  Will,  who  also  treated  me  coldly,  wrote  me  a 
letter  after  this  and  told  me  to  tell  Mattie  it  would 
have  been  a  blessing  if  Will  had  married  her.  That 
he  loved  her  the  best  and  that  she  personally  felt  quite 
differently  toward  me. 

TIMELY  WARNING  TO  OUR  GIRLS  AND  BOYS. 

I  was  going  down  to  a  neighbor's  one  dark  night 
I  heard  low  voices,  of  parties  sitting  by  the  road 
side.  I  went  into  the  neighbor's  house  and  got  a 
lantern.  I  came  up  to  them  and  found  them  to  be 
a  young  man  of  Medicine  Lodge  and  a  young  girl 
visiting  there.  I  warned  them,  telling  the  young  boy 
to  act  towards  a  girl  as  he  would  toward  his  sister. 
I  told  the  girl  that  ruin  would  be  her  fate;  and  she 
hid  her  face  and  soon  both  of  them  ran  down  the  alley. 
I  knew  they  would  think  that  I  would  expose  them, 
so  I  wrote  a  letter  to  the  young  man  and  told  him  the 
injustice  to  himself  and  the  girl,  that  would  follow 
such  actions,  told  him  that  no  one  would  hear  it  from 
me.  That  it  was  not  my  desire  to  expose  them  only 
to  warn  and  prevent  trouble.  That  young  man  is  in 
Medicine  Lodge  now  and  is  a  good  friend  of  mine. 

I  often  see  actions,  especially  in  the  young,  that  I 
know  will  end  in  heartaches  and  woes.  I  get  them 
out  of  hearing  and  speak  to  them.  So  often  in  travel 
ing  I  see  silly  girls  being  led  astray  by  men  who  for 
a  vile  purpose  will  fawn  and  flatter.  I  never  let  such 
a  thing  pass  my  eye  without  a  little  wholesome  con 
demnation:  "Thou  shall  not  in  any  wise  suffer  sin 
upon  thy  brother  but  shall  rebuke  him."  (Lev.  19:17.) 


26G  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

SOME  OR  MY  TRIALS  WITH   MR.  BRUBAKER  OF  PEORIA. 

When  I  visited  Chicago  for  the  first  time  after  the 
smashing  a  Mr.  Brubaker  called  to  see  me.  He  was 
from  Peoria  and  was  hired  by  the  Peoria  Journal  men 
to  get  me  to  edit  that  paper  for  one  day.  The  arrange 
ments  were  satisfactory  to  both  parties.  I  went  to 
Peoria.  Mr.  Brubaker  met  me,  took  me  to  a  hotel  run 
by  a  woman  who  owned  one  or  two  saloons,  but  had 
none  in  the  hotel  she  kept.  I  had  not  one  line  of  copy 
for  the  paper  but  I  got  up  at  four  in  the  morning  and 
wrote  continuously  that  day.  I  know  God  helped  me. 
Mr.  Brubaker  took  the  copy.  I  never  saw  any  of  the 
Journal  men  until  after  the  paper  was  out.  I  went  to 
see  them,  told  them  that  only  a  small  part  of  my  copy 
that  I  wrote  was  in  the  paper.  They  said  that  several 
times  they  asked  for  my  copy  but  Mr.  Brubaker  gave 
them  his  own.  So  he  destroyed  a  great  deal  of  my 
copy,  supplying  only  what  he  wanted  put  in. 

I  spoke  in  the  Opera  House  and  this  Mr.  Brubaker 
was  to  give  me  fifty  dollars  for  my  lecture  that  night. 
After  I  had  spoken  I  was  asked  to  go  into  a  noted  sa 
loon,  Pete  Weise's  place.  Mr.  Brubaker  said :  "If  you 
go  I  will  not  give  you  your  fifty  dollars,"  as  the  con 
tract  said  I  was  to  speak  at  no  other  place  in  the  city. 
But  as  I  had  already  spoken  for  him  I  did  not  feel 
bound.  This  man  was  posing  as  a  prohibitionist,  but 
he  was  as  loyal  to  the  cause  as  Judas  was  to  Jesus.  I 
went  to  Pete  Weise's  place,  one  of  the  most  expensive 
dance  halls  I  was  ever  in.  I  spoke  to  the  hundreds 
of  poor,  drugged  and  depraved  men  and  women. 
There  was  a  large  picture  or  rather  statuary  of  naked 
women  among  trees  which  I  said  must  be  smashed, 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  267 

Mr.  .Weise  treated  me  very  kindly  and  said:  "I  will 
have  that  boarded  up,"  and  so  next  day  he  did. 

This  Mr.  Brubaker  would  not  pay  me  a  cent  for  my 
lecture  and  tried  to  garnishee  the  $100  the  Journal  was 
to  pay  me,  and  had  it  not  been  for  a  stroke  of  policy 
on  the  part  of  the  Journal  he  would  have  taken  every 
cent  from  me  and  left  me  to  pay  my  expenses  there 
and  back.  Jesus  said:  "Beware  of  wolves  in  sheep's 
clothing."  In  a  month  from  this  time  Pete  Weise,  the 
saloon  keeper,  sent  me  $50.  The  prostitute  loved  more 
than  Simon. 

I  saw  in  Peoria  the  largest  distillery  in  the  world. 
Not  one  of  the  hands  are  allowed  to  drink  what  they 
make.  What  would  you  think  of  a  dry  goods  concern 
that  would  not  allow  its  employes  to  use  what  they 
make?  Mr.  William  McKinley  was  entertained  here 
by  Joe  Greenhut,  president  of  the  "Whiskey  Trust." 

I  was  in  Peoria  when  the  prohibitionists  held  a  con 
vention  there  and  was  astonished  that  they  would  put 
up  at  a  saloon  or  a  hotel  that  run  one.  My  conscience 
will  not  allow  me  to  eat  or  sleep  in  any  place  where 
intoxicants  are  sold.  I  never  saw  so  many  ragged  chil 
dren  or  dirty  streets,  as  in  Peoria. 

WITCHCRAFT. 

I  heard  so  much  of  the  "Weltmer  treatment"  for 
disease.  I  sent  twenty-five  dollars  for  a  "mail  course" 
so  I  could  see  for  myself.  This  man  Weltmer  had  a 
large  institution  in  Nevada,  Missouri,  for  humbugging 
the  people.  I  always  like  to  investigate  these  things 
myself,  as  I  did  Dowie,  who  I  found  out  to  be  a  false 
prophet.  This  Weltmer's  papers  were  a  complete 


268  THE  USE  AND   NEED  OF 

treatise  on  witchcraft,  spiritualism  and  hypnotism.  I 
exposed  this  in  every  way  I  could.  The  Bible  fully 
prepares  people  to  expect  such  "lying  wonders  and 
miracles."  The  "Christian  Science"  is  a  witchcraft, 
but  very  subtile.  The  most  dangerous  counterfeit  bill 
is  nearest  like  the  genuine ;  so  is  theosophy. 

IN  JAIL  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

I  went  to  Philadelphia  to  lecture  between  the  acts 
of  "The  Heart  of  a  Hero."  There  was  a  very  vile 
saloon  kept  by  a  Mr.  Donoghue.  This  man  stationed 
police  to  arrest  me  if  I  went  in  his  place.  In  going 
home  from  tjie  theatre  at  night  I  would  look  in  and 
call  to  the  poor  victims  not  to  be  drugged  and  robbed. 
This  man  had  five  or  six  bartenders  handing  out  this 
poisonous  drink  to  our  boys,  our  mothers'  treasures. 
He  has  amassed  a  fortune  at  this  vile  business  and 
tries  to  pose  as  respectable,  because  he  has  a  lot  of  this 
blood  money.  I  was  passing  there  on  the  14th  of  Jan 
uary,  1904.  I  just  opened  the  door  when  a  two  legged 
beer  keg  in  the  form  of  a  policeman  grabbed  me  and 
almost  dragged  me  over  the  streets  to  the  station.  I 
was  locked  in  and  I  spent  the  night  in  jail.  Next 
morning  I  was  discharged. 

The  next  day  when  I  went  to  the  Pennsylvania  rail 
way  depot  to  take  the  train  a  little  boy  came  to  me  and 
asked  for  a  hatchet,  the  depot  police  shook  the  little 
fellow  and  hurled  him  away.  The  little  boy  began  to 
cry  and  I  said  to  the  police :  "Let  that  child  alone,  he 
is  doing  no  harm  to  any  one."  He  told  me  in  a  very 
angry  tone  to  mind  my  business,  and  would  not  let  the 
'ittle  boy  take  the  hatchet  from  me.  After  this  I  was 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  269 

sitting  on  the  bench  waiting  for  my  train,  and  a  per 
son  came  to  me  saying:  "'Let  me  see  one  of  your  hatch 
ets."  I  opened  my  grip  to  show  the  little  souvenirs, 
several  came  up  to  look  at  them.  This  same  police 
man  was  watching  his  chance  to  arrest  me.  He  came 
up  and  said :  "You  will  have  to  stop  that."  I  said :  "I 
am  making  no  trouble,  I  have  a  right  to  meet  people 
and  talk  to  them  and  show  my  souvenirs  too.  You 
are  the  only  one,  making  a  disturbance  here.  Two 
policemen  came  up  and  caught  me  one  by  each  arm, 
dragging  me  through  the  depot  and  down  the  elevator 
and  I  was  carried  to  the  police  station  in  a  "black 
maria."  This  was  done  for  spite  and  to  show  his*  au 
thority.  I  spent  a  night  in  prison,  and  next  morning 
I  was  fined  ten  dollars.  I  was  my  own  lawyer.  The 
magistrate  before  whom  I  was  tried  would  not  compel 
the  officer  to  answer  the  questions  I  asked  him.  He 
was  a  Republican. 

THIRD    TIME    IN    JAIL    IN    PITTSBURG. 

In  a  few  days  I  returned  to  Pittsburg  and  was  in 
vited  by  the  Providence  Mission  to  go  out  on  the 
streets.  Quite  a  crowd  gathered  and  while  I  was 
speaking,  I  was  arrested  again  by  an  officer  who  re 
fused  to  tell  me  what  I  was  arrested  for.  I  was  taken 
to  the  police  headquarters.  The  kind  hearted  matron 
wanted  to  give  me  a  pillow  and  some  bedding  for  I 
had  nothing  but  a  hard  board  in  the  cell.  The  Chief 
of  Police  forbade  the  matron  to  give  me  anything  to 
make  myself  comfortable.  He  said:  "That  woman  is 
giving  us  a  great  deal  of  trouble  and  we  want  to  get 
rid  of  her."  The  matron  came  to  me  when  no  one 
was  looking  and  advised  me  to  give  a  bond  of  thirteen 


270  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

dollars  and  get  out  so  that  I  might  have  a  bed.  I  did 
this  and  went  to  my  boarding  house.  I  secured  the 
services  of  a  lawyer,  Mr.  Buckley.  I  was  fined  ten 
dollars  which  was  afterwards  remitted.  This  repub 
lican,  rum-soaked  police  force  make  it  a  point  to  arrest 
me  on  every  pretext.  They  have  told  me  that  if  I  win 
they  will  lose  their  jobs.  Eighteen  months  before  this 
I  had  been  put  in  jail  at  Pittsburg,  making  three  times 
in  all,  for  doing  my  duty  in  that  city.  Later  on,  I  was 
sent  to  jail  again  in  that  city,  noted  for  its  perjured 
officials. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

WHY  I  WENT  ON  THE  STAGE. THE  VICE  OF  TOBACCO. 

I  got  hundreds  of  calls  to  go  on  the  stage  before  I 
went.  Gradually  I  got  the  light  and  saw  my  way  clear. 

This  is  the  largest  missionary  field  in  the  world.  No 
one  ever  got  a  call  or  was  ever  allowed  to  go  there 
with  a  Bible  but  Carry  Nation.  That  door  never  was 
opened  to  anyone  but  me.  The  hatchet  opened  it. 
God  has  given  me  this  field.  My  managers  have  said : 
"This  is  a  variety  house  at,  Watson's  and  the  Unique, 
of  Brooklyn,  or  the  Boston  on  the  Bowery.  You  do 
not  wish  to  go  there."  Yes,  those  need  me  more  than 
the  rest;  never  refuse  a  call  even  from  the  lowest.  If 
Jesus  ate  with  publicans  and  sinners  I  can  talk  to 
them.  Francis  Willard  said:  "The  pulpit  and  stage 
must  be  taken  for  God." 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  271 

Persons  often  say :  "Why  do  you  take  the  money  of 
such  ?"  I  say :  "I  can  do  more  good  with  the  money 
than  they  can."  After  the  battle  the  victor  takes  the 
spoils  and  is  entitled  to  them.  I  will  take  all  I  can  get 
in  a  good  way.  Money  is  a  blessing,  if  used  as  such. 
I  go  on  the  stage  to  do  good,  I  take  their  money  for 
the  same  reason.  The  curse  of  it  is  when  it  is  desired 
above  the  good  of  humanity.  It  is  not  the  tainted 
money  but  the  tainted  motive.  I  am  fishing.  I  go 
where  the  fish  are,  for  they  do  not  come  to  me.  I 
thank  God  for  this  unspeakable  gift.  I  take  my  Bible 
before  every  audience.  I  show  them  this  hatchet,  that 
destroys  or  smashes  everything  bad  and  builds  up 
everything  that  is  good.  I  tell  them  of  their  loving 
Deliverer  who  came  to  break  every  yoke  and  set  the 
Captive  free.  When  I  look  upon  the  hundreds  of  faces 
before  me,  I  say :  "Oh,  these  poor  aching  hearts !  God 
give  me  a  loving  message."  Words  can  not  tell  of  the 
love  I  would  like  to  bestow  upon  them.  I  often  weep. 
"Oh,  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  how  oft  would  I  have 
gathered  you  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under 
her  wings."  (Matt.  23:37.)'  Then  I  say:  "There  is 
one  that  loves  more  than  you.  He  can  make  all  things 
right." 

There  are  but  a  handful  comparatively  that  try  to 
obey  the  commands  of  Jesus.  "A  remnant  shall  be 
saved."  Caleb  and  Joshua  were  only  two  in  six  hun 
dred  thousand,  but  they  alone  of  this  great  multitude, 
lived  to  see  and  inherit  the  promised  land.  Christ 
said :  "Go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges  and  com 
pel  them  to  come  in  that  my  house  may  be  full."  (Luke 
11:23.)  Where  are  the  highways  and  hedges?  They 


272  TUE   USE  AND   NEED   OF 

are  places  where  men  and  women  are  the  most  lost. 
How  can  they  be  compelled  to  come  in?  Love  is  the 
only  compelling  influence.  If  no  one  goes  with  love, 
how  are  these  lost  ones  to  know  they  are  loved.  Christ 
brought  love  down  to  us ;  He  came  down  to  do  it.  We 
must  take  His  love  to  the  low  places — "Condescend  to 
men  of  low  estate."  (Rom.  12:16.)  I  find  the  theatre 
stocked  with  boys  of  our  country.  They  are  not  found 
in  churches.  I  have  not  sought  to  get  into  the  so- 
called  "respectable  set,"  but  I  have  told  my  managers 
to  get  me  into  the  worst  class.  They  need  me  most. 
They  are  as  brands  snatched  from  the  burning. 

I  am  not  only  a  reformer  on  the  line  of  the  licensed 
or  unlicensed  saloon,  but  on  other  evils.  I  believe  that, 
on  the  whole,  tobacco  has  done  more  harm  than  in 
toxicating  drinks.  The  tobacco  habit  is  followed  by 
thirst  for  drink.  The  face  of  the  smoker  has  lost  the 
scintillations  of  intellect  and  soul  it  would  have  had  if 
not  marred  by  this  vice.  The  odor  of  his  person  is 
vile,  his  blood  is  poisoned,  his  intellect  is  dulled. 

A  smoker  is  never  a  healthy  man,  either  in  body  or 
mind,  for  nicotine  is  a  poison.  Nicotine  poisons  the 
blood,  dulls  the  brain,  and  'is  the  cause  of  disease.  The 
lungs  of  the  tobacco  user  are  black  from  poison,  his 
heart  action  is  weak,  and  the  worst  thing  to  contem 
plate  in  the  whole  matter  is  that  these  tobacco  users 
transmit  nervous  diseases,  epilepsy,  weakened  consti 
tutions,  depraved  appetites  and  deformities  of  all 
kinds  to  their  offspring. 

Deterioration  of  the  race  is  upon  us,  and  unless 
there  is  some  reform,  idiocy,  imbecility  and  extinction 
will  be  the  legacy  of  the  future  generations. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  273 

A  man  that  uses  tobacco  cannot  have  the  nice  moral 
perceptions  on  any  point  that  he  should  have.  I  find 
him  to  be  dulled  and  sluggish.  The  Bible  says:  "If 
thine  eye  be  single,  thy  whole  body  is  full  of  light.  If 
thine  eye  be  evil,  thy  whole  body  is  full  of  darkness." 
(Matt.  6:22.)  The  use  of  tobacco  is  a  vice,  and  to 
the  extent  of  that  one  vice,  it  degrades  a  man.  It  opens 
the  gate  for  other  vices,  for  it  is  the  gratification  of 
one  form  of  lust.  It  is  a  filthy  habit,  and  I  care  not 
how  often  the  smoker  changes  his  clothes  or  washes 
his  person,  he  is  filthy.  The  stench  from  his  breath 
indicates  that  his  body  repudiates  such  uncleanliness. 

The  tobacco  user  can  never  be  the  father  of  a 
healthy  child.  Therefore  he  is  dangerous  for  a  woman 
to  have  as  a  husband.  If  I  were  a  young  woman,  I 
would  say  to  a  young  man,  if  he  used  tobacco,  and  who 
wished  to  go  with  me,  "Choose  between  me  and  the 
tobacco."  Young  ladies,  what  a  power  to  save  man 
hood  you  are.  When  a  man  begins  to  smoke  he  is  tak 
ing  his  first  lessons  in  drink.  The  two  habits  travel 
together. ' 

A  man  never  can  attain  his  majority  and  use  to 
bacco.  He  never  can  realize  his  full  capabilities  or 
his  possibilities.  He  can  always  attain  to  a  better 
standard  without  nicotine. 

There  is  one  objection  that,  from  a  business  stand 
point,  every  business  man  ought  to  make  to  tobacco. 
When  he  employs  a  man  that  uses  tobacco  he  gets  only 
a  certain  per  cent,  of  his  employee's  time  and  of  his 
brain,  because  the  employee  must  serve  his  tobacco 
master  part  of  his  time  and  when  he  is  not  smoking 
his  mind  is  preoccupied  because  he  is  thinking  of 


274  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

smoking.  Consequently,  he  cannot  concentrate  his 
mind  upon  his  business. 

1  have  heard  poor,  silly,  empty-headed  women  say 
that  it  is  manly  to  smoke.  If  it  is  manly  to  smoke, 
why  isn't  it  womanly  to  smoke?  The  tobacco  habit 
is  the  reverse  of  manhood  and  destroys  manhood,  for 
manhood  means  strength  of  character,  not  the  grati 
fication  of  lust. 

If  tobacco  is  good  for  men,  it  is  also  good  for  wo 
men.  I  do  not  suppose  that  one  could  find  a  man  so 
degraded  as  to  walk  down  the  street  with  a  woman 
who  had  a  cigarette  or  cigar  in  her  mouth.  Women 
should  make  the  same  standard  for  men  that  men  do 
for  women.  Many  women  would  smoke  in  public  if 
men  did  not  denounce  it.  MEN  WOULD  QUIT 
SMOKING  IN  PUBLIC  IF  WOMEN  DENOUNC 
ED  IT. 

I  have  heard  some  women  say,  "I  like  the  smell  of 
a  good  cigar."  I  never  smelled  a  good  one.  It  is  not 
made.  They  are  like  snakes;  they  are  all  bad.  I 
never  knew  of  but  one  good  use  that  tobacco  was  put 
to,  and  that  was  to  kill  lice  on  cows  and  plants.  My 
father  used  it  for  that  purpose  on  his  farm.  It  does 
kill  the  germ  of  life,  but  not  of  disease. 

The  evil  has  become  so  common  that  whenever  you 
go  abroad  you  are  compelled  to  breathe  the  contents 
of  somebody  else's  mouth.  It  would  be  rude  of  me  to 
take  a  piece  of  fruit  out  of  my  mouth  and  throw  it  into 
somebody  else's  mouth,  but  anyone  may  throw  his 
poisonous  breath  and  smoke  into  my  mouth  and  I  have 
no  defense.  A  man  has  no  more  right  to  poison  the 
air  I  breathe  than  the  water  I  drink.  Spitting  is  for- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  275 

bidden  in  the  cars.  Smoking  is  a  great  deal  worse, 
but  the  reason  why  it  is  not  denounced  is  that  people 
can  get  a  revenue  from  men's  smoking,  while  they 
have  to  clean  up  after  spitters,  and  there  is  no  money 
in  that. 

I  can  prevent  a  man  spitting  into  my  mouth,  but  I 
can  not  avoid  his  smoke.  A  man  seems  to  think  that 
he  is  free  to  project  his  stinking  breath  in  my  face  on 
the  street,  in  hotels,  in  cars,  coaches — indeed,  in  every 
public  place.  There  is  some  excuse  for  a  skunk ;  he 
can't  help  being  one.  But  men  have  become  so  rank 
in  their  persons  from  this  poisonous  odor  that  they 
turn  me  sick,  and  heart-sick  also  as  they  pass  me.  And 
when  I  say,  "Man,  don't  throw  that  awful  stench  in 
my  face,"  he  answers,  "You  get  away."  I  reply,  "If 
I  smelled  as  badly  as  you  do,  I  would  be  the  one  to  get 
away." 

Oh,  the  vile  cigarette!  What  smell  can  be  worse 
and  more  poisonous?  I  feel  outraged  at  being  com 
pelled  to  smell  this  poison  on  the  street.  I  have  the 
right  to  take  cigars  and  cigarettes  from  men's  mouths 
in  self-defense,  and  they  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to 
injure  themselves.  "Liberty  is  the  largest  privilege  to 
do  that  which  is  right,  and  the  smallest  to  do  that 
which  is  wrong."  Governments  are  organized  to  take 
care  of  the  governed.  I  believe  it  ought  to  be  a  crime 
to  manufacture,  barter,  sell  or  give  away  cigars,  cigar 
ettes  and  tobacco  in  any  form. 

Dr.  Jay  W.  Seaver,  associated  physical  director  of 
Yale  University,  says:  "Among  college  students,  the 
gain  of  growth,  in  general,  is  12  per  cent,  greater 
among  those  who  do  not  use  tobacco  than  those  who 


276  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

smoke.  It  has  also  been  proven  by  tests  in  the  labor 
atory  that  the  nicotine  in  a  fairly  mild  cigar  will  re 
duce  a  man's  muscular  power  from  25  to  40  per  cent." 

Were  it  not  for  the  tobacco  habit,  we  would  need  no 
smoking  cars.  Suppose  women  had  a  vice  that  re 
quired  them  a  separate  apartment  from  the  men  when 
they  travel.  Even  in  the  cars  where  the  women  travel 
there  are  rooms  fixed  up  in  luxuriant  style  while  poor 
mothers  with  their  babies  have  to  sit  upright  and  smell 
this  rank  and  poisonous  odor.  But  of  course  women 
have  no  redress,  or  are  made  to  think  they  have  none. 
Shame  to  you  men,  a  decent  dog  will  not  bite  a  female, 
while  in  men  the  impulse  of  protecting  their  females  is 
lower  than  in  a  decent  beast. 

While  I  was  in  New  York  City  last  week,  April  the 
2nd,  a  Mr.  Thomas  McGuire,  treasurer  of  the  Four 
teenth  Avenue  Theatre  had  his  tongue  cut  out  to  pre 
vent  tobacco  cancer  from  spreading.  This  was  from 
smoking  cigars.  General  Grant's  tongue  rotted  from 
the  same  cause. 

Here  is  one  of  the  best  poems  on  the  vice  I  ever 
read.  Author  unknown. 

HE   SMOKES. 

"In  the  office,  in  the  parlor ; 
On  the  sidewalk,  on  the  street; 
In  the  faces  of  the  passers, 
In  the  eyes  of  those  he  meets, 
In  the  vestibule,  the  depot, 
At  the  theatre  or  ball ; 
E'en  at  funerals  and  weddings, 
And  at  christenings  and  all. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  277 

"Signs  may  threaten,  men  may  warn  him; 
Babies  cry  and  women  coax; 
But  he  cares  not  one  iota, 
For  he  calmly  smokes  and  smokes. 
Oh,  he  cares  not  whom  he  strangles, 
Vexes,  puts  to  flight,  provokes ; 
And  although  they  squirm  and  fidget, 
He  just  smokes  and  smokes  and.  smokes. 

"Not  a  place  is  sacred  to  him ; 

Churchyards,  where  the  flowers  bloom; 

Gardens,  drives,  in  fact  the  world  is 

Just  one  mighty  smoking  room, 

And  when  once  he  quits  this  mundane  sphere, 

And  takes  his  outward  flight, 

From  the  world  he  made  a  hades, 

D?v  he's  turned  to  murky  night. 

"When  he  reaches  his  destination, 
Finds  'tis  not  a  dream  or  hoax, 
And  the  judge  deals  out  his  sentence, 
Then  I'll  wager  that  he  smokes ; 
Oh,  he'll  care  then  whom  he  has  vexed, 
And  their  mercy  he'll  invoke ; 
But  although  he  squirms  and  fidgets, 
They'll  just  let  him  smoke  and  smoke  and 
smoke." 


CHAPTER  XXL 

TRIP  ON  FALL  RIVER  STEAMBOAT,  FROM  BOSTON  TO  NEW 
YORK. OFFICERS  TRIED  TO  LOCK  ME  IN  MY  STATE 
ROOM. SEQUEL  SATISFACTORY,  MADE  PLEASANT  TRIP 

AND   MANY   FRIENDS. 

In  the  summer  of  1903,  I  took  a  Fall  River  boat 
from  Boston  to  New  York.  These  boats  are  said  to 
be  the  finest  in  the  world.  There  was  quite  a  commo 
tion  among  the  several  hundred  passengers  when  I 
went  aboard,  and  the  door  was  blocked  in  the  women's 
cabin  to  get  a  look  at  the  "Crazy  Smasher  from  Kan 
sas." 

Men  were  smoking  pipes,  cigars  and  cigarettes.  I 
said :  "Men,  get  away  from  the  door  with  your  smoke, 
you  make  me  sick."  They  paid  no  attention  to  me.  I 
went  to  the  clerk  and  complained  of  being  compelled  to 
submit  to  the  outrage  of  the  poisonous  fumes, 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  attract  the  attention  of 
al  to  the  matter.  The  clerk  told  me  to  be  quiet  and 
sit  down.  I  said:  "I  will,  if  I  have  a  decent  place  to 
stay,  why  do  you  not  have  these  men  get  away  from 
the  door?"  But  they  were  men,  we  were  only  women 
and  children.  Oh,  the  outrage  on  poor  mothers  in 
delicate  condition,  to  be  subject  to  such  treatment  by 
selfish,  dirty  men.  I  believe  every  one  who  smokes  in 
a  public  place  should  be  fined.  If  men  will  smoke  let 
it  be  where  others  can  not  be  annoyed  or  injured.  I 
have  no  right  to  bring  a  skunk  into  any  public  place. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  279 

People  should  be  taught  that  others  have  the  right  to 
object  to  anything  that  is  wrong. 

While  I  persisted  in  my  request  to  the  men  to  leave 
the  door,  I  was  shown  my  stateroom,  to  which  there 
were  two  doors,  one  leading  from  the  corridor  and  the 
other  opening  out  next  the  water.  The  captain,  ac 
companied  by  the  first  and  second  mate  appeared  at 
the  former,  saying:  "Madam,  you  are  to  keep  your 
room  this  evening."  I  replied,  (while  eating  a  sand- 
wish)  :  "I  will  do  nothing  of  the  sort."  He  said:  "I 
will  see  that  you  do."  At  the  same  time  telling  the 
officers  to  lock  the  doors.  I  said:  "You  can  lock  the 
doors  to  restrain  me  of  my  liberty,  but  having  paid 
my  fare  for  the  service  of  this  company,  I  will  tie  up 
this  boat,  when  we  reach  New  York,  and  you  will  learn 
that  I  can  turn  a  lock  as  well  as  yourself.  I  saw  his 
countenance  change.  Mr.  Furlong,  my  manager,  who 
was  on  the  boat,  and  almost  shaking  with  fear,  began 
to  make  excuses  for  me,  but  when  I  said,  "Never  mind, 
Mr.  Furlong,  I  can  attend  to  this  little  captain  and 
myself  too."  He  said  no  more.  The  three  men  walk 
ed  out  of  the  corridor,  shutting  the  door  after  them, 
but  did  not  lock  it,  in  a  few  moments,  they  returned 
and  opened  both  doors  for  fear  I  would  think  I  was 
locked  in.  This  was  about  supper  time.  When  I 
had  finished  my  lunch,  and  had  put  on  a  clean  tie  and 
fixed  my  hair,  I  took  from  my  valise  a  lot  of  little 
hatchets  and  put  them  in  a  little  leather  case  I  carry 
by  a  strap  over  my  shoulder.  Thus  equipped  I  entered 
the  ladies  cabin,  where  there  were  perhaps  fifty  people 
sitting.  When  I  went  in,  they  began  to  look  at  one 
another,  some  smiled ;  I  knew  they  had  heard  of  the 


280  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

captain's  trying  to  prevent  my  coming  out.  Taking 
my  seat  on  a  sofa  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  I  was 
listening  to  the  lovely  string  band  when  some  one  came 
up  and  began  to  talk  to  me.  After  a  while  I  was  quite 
surrounded  and  the  cabin  soon  became  crowded.  Some 
one  asked  to  see  a  little  hatchet,  so  I  opened  my  satchel 
to  show  them.  One  of  the  officers  who  had  come  to 
the  stateroom  with  the  captain,  had  been  standing  near 
the  stairway,  and  when  he  saw  the  people  begin  to 
press  round  me  to  get  the  hatchets,  he  came  up  saying : 
"Madam,  you  are  not  allowed  to  sell  these  here."  I 
replied :  "You  sell  wine,  beer,  whiskey,  tobacco,  cigar 
ettes  and  anything  that  will  drug  these  people.  Now 
these  are  my  own  little  souvenirs,  and  they  will  adver 
tise  my  cause,  help  me,  and  be  a  little  keep  sake  from 
the  hand  that  raised  the  hatchet,  so  I  claim  the  right 
to  sell  them,  where  you  have  no  right  to  sell  bad 
things."  He  went  up  to  see  the  captain,  who  said :  "I 
am  too  busy  to  fool  with  that  woman."  So  he  came 
down,  and  called  up  Mr.  Furlong,  asking  him  to  com 
pel  me  to  stop  selling  hatchets,  but  Mr.  Furlong  told 
him  he  could  not  prevent  Mrs.  Nation -doing  anything 
she  made  up  her  mind  to  do.  We  had  a  nice  time.  1 
repeated  poetry  on  the  evils  of  drink  and  smoking.  All 
were  happy,  and  at  ten  o'clock,  I  bade  good-night  to 
many  friends  who  regarded  me  not  as  the  wild  vicious 
woman,  but  as  one  who  meant  well. 

Next  morning  when  we  went  ashore  in  New  York, 
and  were  identifying  our  baggage,  a  small  man  passed, 
Mr.  Furlong  remarked  in  an  undertone,  "Our  cap 
tain."  He  had  changed  his  uniform  to  go  ashore,  and 
I  had  not  recognized  him.  I  extended  my  hand  which 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  281 

he  took,  and  I  said,  "Captain,  I  know  you  were  told 
I  was  a  nuisance."  "Yes,  they  said  you  would  raise 
the  devil,  but  if  anyone  thinks  you  are  a  fool  they  are 
very  much  mistaken."  We  parted  in  a  very  pleasant 
humor.  Thus  it  is,  my  life  is  a  constant  contention, 
but  there  have  been  many  laughable  circumstances  and 
none  hurt.  I  can  truly  say  that  there  is  no  ill  will  in 
my  heart  toward  a  creature  God  has  made.  It  is  a 
hatred  for  the  enemies  of  mankind. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

TRIP  TO  CANADA,  CORDIAL  RECEPTION. RETURN  TO  CHI 
CAGO  TO  FILL  ENGAGEMENT. SECOND  VISIT  TO  CAN 
ADA. TRIP  TO  MARITIME  PROVINCES. VISIT  CLUB  IN 

CHARLOTTETOWN. PREJUDICE    AGAINST     ME     OWING 

TO    MALICIOUS    REPORTS. SPOKE    IN    PARLIAMENT    IN 

.  FREDERICTON. VISIT    TO     SIDNEY. SCOTT     ACT. MY 

ARREST  AND  RELEASE. EPISODE  IN   JAIL. 

Having  a  spare  month  in  May  of  1904  I  made  a 
trip  to  Canada,  and  never  was  so  cordially  received  in 
my  life,  selling  all  the  hatchets  I  had  in  three  meet 
ings. 

I  returned  to  fill  a  Chicago  engagement  of  six  weeks 
which  was  made  by  my  manager,  with  Mr.  House 
man,  one  of  the  Editors  of  the  Chicago  Inter-Ocean, 
who  owned  a  theatre  with  which  a  museum  was  con- 


282  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

nected.  Realizing  that  this  would  provide  an  excuse 
for  the  papers  to  lie  about  me,  I  wrote  my  manager, 
if  possible,  to  cancel  the  engagement.  I  was,  how 
ever,  persuaded  to  stay  one  week,  with  the  result,  that 
it  was  published  all  over  the  country  that  Carry  A. 
Nation  was  in  a  Museum  getting  $300  a  week  just  to 
be  looked  at,  when  in  fact,  I  spoke  in  the  theatre,  not 
in  the  museum.  I  would  not  object  to  going  into  a 
museum  or  any  place  to  bring  my  cause  before  the  peo 
ple,  'but  resented  the  idea  of  being  placed  on  exhibi 
tion. 

As  I  had  promised  to  return  to  Canada,  I  did  so  in 
the  month  of  June,  visiting  the  Maritime  Provinces, 
where  I  was  very  much  delighted  with  the  people,  find 
ing  in  Prince  Edward's  Island  the  most  intelligent  and 
moral  people,  as  a  body,  that  I  have  ever  met. 

That  Island  has  a  Prohibition  Law  similar  to  Kan 
sas,  but  the  premier,  Peters,  told  the  former  premier, 
Mr.  Farguason,  that  the  Club  in  Charlottetown,  the 
Capitol,  had  to  be  an  exception  to  the  prohibitive 
amendment  or  he  would  vote  against  and  ruin  it.  This 
condition  is  similar  in  our  own  government — conspir 
acy  and  treason.  I  visited  this  club,  strange  that  I 
should  get  in,  God  opened  the  way.  It  was  fitted  up 
like  other  drinking  clubs,  where  men  congregate  to 
act  in  a  manner  and  talk  of  subjects  they  would  be 
ashamed  that  their  wives  should  know  of.  The  back 
room  was  stacked  with  empty  bottles  and  imported  li 
quors  of  different  brands.  I  went  up  into  the  parlor 
about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  where  I  met  one  of 
these  beer-swelled  outlaws,  I  asked  him,  "Will  you 
answer  some  questions  about  this  place."  His  pomp- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  283 

ous  ami  indignant  reply  was,  "No,  I  will  do  nothing 
of  the  kind."  I  said :  "I  will  tell  you  some  things  about 
it.  You  are  a  set  of  traitors,  you  pose  as  being  the 
elite,  but  you  are  criminals.  Shame  on  such  villainy." 
He  held  his  paper  up  before  his  face.  I  had  the  satis 
faction  of  telling  him  the  truth  in  plain  language,  such 
men  are  well  dressed,  gold  fobbed,  diamond  studded 
rummies  that  are  more  hateful  than  those  behind  the 
prison  bars.  Their  bodies  are  a  reeking  mass  of  cor 
ruption. 

Prince  Edward's  Island  is  a  large  farm,  one  hun 
dred  miles  long,  by  forty  broad.  It  can  only  be  reach 
ed  by  boat.  A  high  grade  of  cheese  is  made  and  milk, 
butter,  oats  and  turnips  are  raised  there.  Instead  of 
weather-boarding  the  houses  they  have  the  sides  shin 
gled.  They  have  nice,  small,  fat  horses,  which  are  fine 
travelers. 

On  this,  my  second  visit  to  Canada,  the  people  did 
not  receive  me  as  cordially  as  before,  owing  to  a  re 
port  that  I  had  been  in  a  museum  in  Chicago  on  ex 
hibition.  In  order  to  counteract  this  prejudice  against 
me,  I  offered  a  reward  of  $50.00  for  any  one  who  had 
ever  seen  me  in  a  musuem  or  on  exhibition,  which  had 
the  desired  effect.  There  are  rum  bought  papers  in 
Canada  as  there  are  in  the  States. 

I  was  asked  to  speak  in  Parliament  in  Fredericton. 
There  was  a  great  laugh  when  I  said  that  governments 
like  fish,  stink  worse  at  the  head. 

On  my  visit  to  Sydney,  Cape  Breton,  I  found  that, 
although  they  have  the  Scott  Act,  which  makes  it  a 
misdemeanor  to  sell  intoxicants,  there  are  dives  there 


284  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

just  as  in' Kansas,  the  officers  and  political  wire  pullers 
defending  them  in  just  the  same  way. 

I  went  into  a  vile  den,  the  Belmont  Hotel.  There 
was  a  crowd  gathered  around  the  place.  When  I  went 
out  in  front  an  officer  came  to  me,  saying:  "You  will 
haye  to  get  off  the  street,  you  are  collecting  a  crowd." 
I  said,  I  am  not  disturbing  anything,  if  you  object  to 
the  crowd,  disperse  them.  Let  me  alone.  He  insisted, 
and  so  did  I.  He  said  nothing  to  the  crowd  no  one 
was  doing  anything,  but  standing  around  when  he 
walked  up  to  me  and  arrested  me  in  the  "King's  name." 
Two  got  on  either  side  of  me  and  carried  me  to  jail. 
When  I  was  there,  I  found  a  young  boy  of  about  14 
or  15  years  of  age.  I  asked:  "Why  are  you  here?" 
He  began  to  cry  bitterly,  said  he  was  put  in  for  calling 
names.  "Oh,  if  I  had  a  father  or  mother  to  help  me 
out,  but  they  are  dead,  and  I  have  no  friends."  "What 
is  your  fine  ?"  I  asked.  "Only  a  dollar."  "My  dear 
boy,  I  will  do  what  mother  would  do,  if  she  were  here, 
kneel  down  here  and  let  us  pray.  He  did,  weeping 
bitterly  all  the  time.  I  asked  God  to  make  this  a  means 
of  saving  that  dead  mother's  precious  one.  I  said  to 
him:  "Now  my  boy,  mother  would  say:  'My  darling 
son,  don't  use  bad  language.  Be  good  and  love  God. 
Now  I  will  pay  your  fine  just  as  mother  would  do." 
So  I  called  the  jailer,  who  seemed  to  be  a  kind  man, 
and  paid  the  dollar.  The  boy  with  his  face  glowing 
with  happiness,  fairly  flew  out.  In  a  few  minutes  the 
door  was  opened,  a  friend  went  on  my  bond,  and  I  left 
to  fill  my  appointment.  There  were  as  many  as  twen 
ty-five  men  who  volunteered  to  testify  to  the  unfair 
arrest.  The  case  was  tried  the  next  day,  and  I  was 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  285 

acquitted,  the  judge  saying  that,  "All  Carry  Nation 
wanted  was  advertising."  "Man's  inhumanity  to  wo 
man."  I  was  glad  to  open  the  prison  door  to  the  boy, 
and  give  him  advice  at  a  time  when  he  would  take  it, 
for  he  promised  me  to  be  a  good  boy  and  serve  God. 
I  expect  God  sent  me  there  for  that  purpose. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

COWARDLY  ASSAULT  BY  SALOON  KEEPER,  G.  R.  NEIGHBORS 

OF  ELIZABETHTOWN,   KY. APATHY  OF  OFFICERS,  BUT 

PEOPLE  MUCH  MOVED  BY  OUTRAGE,  LECTURED  AFTER 
WARDS,  THO'  VERY  FAINT  AND  WEAK  FROM  LOSS  OF 
BLOOD. CIGARETTE  SMOKING  IN  HIGH  PLACES  DIS 
CUSSED  WITH  MISS  GASTON,  PRESIDENT  NATIONAL 
ANTI-CIGARETTE  LEAGUE. 

A  saloon  keeper,  G.  R.  Neighbors,  of  Elizabethtown, 
Kentucky,  struck  me  over  the  head  with  a  chair,  July 
23,  1904.  In  going  up  to  the  hall  to  fill  an  engagement. 
I  passed  this  man  and  walking  into  his  saloon,  said: 
"Why  are  you  in  this  business,  drugging  and  robbing 
the  people?"  "You  get  out"  I  replied:  "Yes  you 
want  a  resptable  woman  to  get  out,  but  you  will 
make  any  woman's  boy  a  disgrace.  You  ought  to  be 
ashamed."  I  then  passed  out  going  to  the^  hall.  After 
the  lecture  I  passed  by  his  place  again.  He  was  sit 
ting  in  a  chair  in  front  of  the  saloon,  and  I  said,  "Are 


286  THE  USE  AND  NEED  OF 

you  the  man  that  runs  this  business  ?"  and  in  a  moment 
with  an  oath  he  picked  up  the  chair  and  with  all  his 
strength,  sent  it  down  with  a  crash  on  my  head.  I 
came  near  falling,  caught  myself,  and  he  lifted  the 
chair  the  second  time,  striking  me  over  the  back,  the 
blood  began  to  cover  my  face,  and  run  down  from  a 
cut  on  my  forehead.  I  cried  out,  'Tie  has  killed  me." 
An  officer  caught  the  chair  to  prevent  the  third  blow. 

There  were  two  officers  in  the  crowd.  I  cried,  "Is 
there  no  one  to  arrest  this  man?"  No  one  appeared 
to  do  it.  He  went  back  in  his  saloon.  I  to  the  hotel. 
Some  one  sent  for  a  doctor  who  came  and  dressed  the 
wound  on  my  forehead,  my  left  arm  was  badly  bruised, 
also  my  back.  Had  it  not  been  for  my  bonnet,  I  should 
have  suffered  more.  This  outrageous  act  roused  the 
people.  Indignant  women  and  men  came  to  see  me, 
saying  this  outrage  would  not  be  tolerated.  The  Meth 
odist  minister  especially  was  deeply  moved.  There 
were  two  officers  who  saw  this  outrage,  but  there  was 
no  arrest. 

Next  morning,  Mrs.  Bettie  James,  came  in  two 
miles  from  the  country,  and  had  a  warrant  sworn  out 
against  Neighbors,  but  the  case  was  laid  over  to  await 
the  action  of  the  grand  jury,  in  November;  saloon 
keepers  going  on  his  bond. 

I  intended  to  go  to  Mammoth  Cave,  but  remained 
over  on  account  of  trial,  and  spoke  again  that  night. 
Elizabethtown  is  one  of  those  bad  rum  towns  in  Ken 
tucky,  but  there  is  a  fine  prohibition  sentiment,  and 
great  indignation  was  felt  and  expressed  that  even  a 
saloon-keeper  could  be  so  low  and  cowardly  as  to 
strike  a  woman,  and  still  be  tolerated.  I  was  in  bed 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  287 

most  of  the  day  and  nearly  fainted  during  the  lecture, 
but  I  thanked  God  that  I  was  counted  worthy  to  suffer 
so  that  others  need  not.  I  felt  some  mother  might  re 
ceive  fewer  blows,  that  if  my  head  was  bruised  and 
bleeding  it  might  prevent  other  hearts  from  being 
crushed  and  broken,  souls  from  going  to  drunkards' 
graves,  and  drunkards'  hells,  and  this  outrage  would 
reveal  the  enormous  brutality  of  this  curse ;  thus  bring 
ing  a  speedy  remedy. 

In  the  spring  of  1904,  I  was  in  the  office  of  Miss 
Lucy  Gaston,  the  National  President  of  the  Anti-Cig 
arette  League.  I  saw  on  the  walls  of  her  room  Mr. 
Roosevelt's  picture.  I  said,  "My  dear  Miss  Lucy,  why 
do  you  have  that  picture  in  here  ?  Don't  you  know  he 
is  a  cigarette  smoker?"  She  said,  she  did  not  know 
it.  I  said :  "Let  me  tear  that  up."  Did  this  man  who 
is  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  this  nation  ever  say  a  word 
against  this  vice?  Although  he  is  sworn  to  protect 
from  just  such.  This  brave,  good  woman,  whose 
heart,  soul,  and  body  is  dedicated  to  saving  the  young 
men  of  our  land  did  not  seem  to  recognize  the  fact  that 
Democrats  and  Republicans  (so-called)  were  the  head 
and  front  of  all  the  corruption  we  have.  At  last,  I 
said :  "If  you  will  write  to  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  get  his 
statement  that  he  does  not,  nor  ever  did  smoke  cigar 
ettes  I  will  give  you  $50  for  your  work,  she  said  she 
would.  She  wrote  to  the  President,  got  no  response 
from  him,  but  Mr.  Loeb,  his  secretary  wrote  that  the 
President,  did  not  and  never  had  used  tobacco  in  any 
form.  She  sent  this  to  me,  of  course  I  was  not  to  be 
caught  with  such  chaff.  I  wrote  her  so,  telling  her  of 
the  time  when  Mr.  McKinley  wished  to  deny  the  fact, 


288  THE    USE   AND   NEED  OF 

that  he  rented  his  property  in  Canton,  Ohio,  for  sa 
loon  purposes,  his  minister  denied  this,  but  the  Chi 
cago  Voice  proved  that  he  did.  I  suppose  Mr.  Roose 
velt  got  his  minister  to  write  what  he  dared  not.  I 
wrote  her  that  old  birds  were  not  easily  fooled  with 
chaff,  also  stating,  that  if  she  would  get  a  statement 
that  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  not  a  beer  drinker,  I  would 
give  her  another  $50.00.  Of  course  she  could  not  do 
this,  but  the  Republican  Press  published  all  over  the 
country  that  Miss  Gaston  got  the  evidence  and  I  paid 
the  $50.00,  but  not  one  word  of  this  was  true. 

How  I  wish  I  had  means  to  help  dear  Lucy  Page 
Gaston  in  her  struggles  to  save  the  boys  of  this  coun 
try.  Why  don't  some  one  will  her  a  few  thousand? 
What  a  blessing  to  the  giver  as  well. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

SISTER    LUCY    WILHOITE^S    VISION. WRITES    TO    ME    FOR 

CO-OPERATION  IN  MAKING  RAID  ON  MAHAN^S  WHOLE 
SALE  LIQUOR  HOUSE. HESITATE  ON  ACCOUNT  PRESS 
ING  ENGAGEMENTS  AHEAD. ANSWERS  THE  CALL.— 

RAID  SET  FOR  29TH. W.  C.  T.  U.  CONVENTION  IN  SES 
SION. FOUR  SISTERS  AND  MYSELF  START  FROM  M.  E. 

CHURCH. A  CALL  FOR  THE  POLICE  BEFORE  WE  COULD 

EFFECT  AN  ENTRANCE. TAKEN  TO  JAIL  IN  HOODLUM 

WAGON. UNHEALTHY  CONDITION  OF  CELL. IN  JAIL 

FROM    FRIDAY    TO    MONDAY. GOOD    OLD    PENTECOSTAL 

TIME    ON    SUNDAY. COUNTY    JAIL     MONDAY. TRIAL 

WEDNESDAY. JAIL    SENTENCE    AND    FINES. APPEAL 

TO  DISTRICT  COURT. 

In  the  Fall  of  1904,  I  received  a  letter  from  Sister 
Lucy  Wilhoite  of  Wichita,  telling  me  of  a  vision, 
which  I  will  relate  here  in  her  own  words :  "During  a 
severe  illness,  last  July,  the  Lord  appeared  unto  me  and 
revealed  many  wonderful  things  concerning  our  work 
in  which  I  have  been  engaged  for  seven  years.  Tem 
perance  and  Prohibition. 

My  life  was  despaired  of  by  my  friends  and  I  knew 
I  was  very  near  the  borderland,  and  as  I  lay  on  my  bed 
of  suffering  in  the  still  hour  of  mid-night,  God  showed 
me  the  awful  desolation  which  our  thirty  eight  saloons 
and  five  wholesale  liquor  houses  were  making  in  the 
homes  of  Wichita  and  surrounding  country.  The  sight 
so  overwhelmed  me,  I  cried  unto  the  Lord  and  said, 
'Oh  my  God !  Have  I  done  all  I  could  during  this  life 


290  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

"V 

of  mine  to  dam  up  this  fearful  tide?  Then  I  said, 
show  me  Lord,  what  this  means.  Immediately  a  great 
cloud  of  human  souls  came  rolling  down  a  steep  de 
cline  and  as  my  eyes  followed  them,  saw  them  rolling 
on  and  on  until  they  finally  fell  into  a  pit  from  whence 
fire  and  smoke  were  ascending."  Then  my  eyes  were 
turned  again  up  the  ascent  from  whence  the  souls  were 
coming.  When,  Lo !  I  saw  the  National  Capitol,  with 
its  Senate  and  Congressmen.  I  saw  the  Legislative 
Halls,  and  our  Educational  Institutions.  I  saw  our 
churches  with  their  educated  ministry,  and  their  secret 
societies,  our  public  libraries  and  reading  rooms,  our 
National,  State  and  Local  W.  C.  T.  IPs.,  all  of  them 
right  in  the  track  of  this  awful  tide  of  human  souls, 
yet  they  still  rolled  on  and  on  until  they  reached  the 
pit.  Then  I  cried  again  unto  the  Lord  and  said :  "Oh, 
Why  do  you  show  me  these  horrible  things,  when  I 
am  on  the  brink  of  the  grave?"  And  still  the  picture 
or  vision  remained  before  me,  growing  more  and  more 
vivid  every  moment  until  I  struggled  to  my  knees,  and 
said,  'Oh,  God,  if  I  can  do  anything  to  dam  up  this 
fearful  tide,  just  heal  this  body,  and  let  the  healing  be 
the  seal  that  I  can  do  something  to  help,  and  I  shall 
do  it  if  it  costs  my  life/  Then  a  deep  calm  and  soul 
rest  settled  over  me  and  I  sank  into  a  deep  sleep,  when 
I  awoke  I  realized  the  pain  was  gone  and  also  the 
fever.  I  lay  there,  looking  up  to  God,  and  I  said,  'Now 
Lord,  show  me  what  you  want  me  to  do/  Immediately 
like  a  great  scroll  reaching  across  the  sky,  these  words 
appeared,  written  in  letters  of  gold.  "Spill  it  out!" 
Then  he  showed  me  the  very  place  I  was  to  attack  Ma- 
han's  Wholesale  Liquor  House. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  291 

"For  many  weeks  I  pondered  upon  this  vision  and 
prayed  about  it  most  earnestly,  that  I  might  not  be 
mistaken  and  know  of  a  truth  that  it  was  God's  will. 
I  never  found  any  soul  rest  until  I  wrote  to  Mrs.  Na 
tion,  and  told  her  the  time  was  ripe  for  God  and  that 
we  must  attack  Mahan's  Wholesale  Liquor  House,  that 
was  helping  to  degrade  so  many  women  and  debase  so 
many  men.  This  resulted  in  an  attempt  to  carry  out 
God's  purpose  on  Sept.  30,  1904. 

I  was  true  to  the  "Heavenly  Vision,"  which  is  only 
the  beginning  of  the  fulfillment,  for  there  are  yet 
many  things  to  be  spilled  out,  not  only  the  liquor,  but 
also  the  hypocrites  in  the  church,  and  the  false  prophets 
with  sin  of  every  kind,  and  our  lives  also. 

The  Wichita  Eagle  reporter,  uttered  a  profound 
truth,  whether  he  intended  to  or  not,  when  he  said,  we 
walked  into  the  court  room  like  a  poem,  a  sort  of  a 
'Lead  Kindly  Light'  poem,  for  we  were  lead  of  God, 
who  is  the  light  of  the  world.  And  we  intend  to  fol 
low  on  until  this  vision  is  fully  realized." 

Yours  for  God's  love  for  Him  and  suffering  human 
ity,  MRS.  LUCY  WILHOITE." 

I  had  dates  ahead  that  I  disliked  to  cancel,  because 
of  disappointing  the  people  and  entailing  a  great  fin 
ancial  sacrifice.  Sister  Lydia  Muntz,  also  wrote  me 
to  come  to  Wichita  immediately.  I  knew  it  meant 
smashing  and  imprisonment,  possibly,  loss  of  life,  for 
I  wrote  Sister  Wilhoite,  "I  am  coming  to  do  all  I  can 
to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil,  and  if  need  be  to 
die."  At  first,  I  told  her  to  keep  things  quiet.  Then 
I  thought  it  best  to  give  all  an  opportunity  to  have  a 


292  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

part  in  this  great  work  of  saving  life  here  and  here 
after,  so  I  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Topeka  Journal  mak 
ing  a  call  for  helpers  setting  September  28th  as  the 
day.  When  I  arrived  in  Topeka,  I  learned  that  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  would  be  in  convention  session  on  that 
day  in  Wichita,  and  also  that  there  was  a  carnival  go 
ing  on  in  the  place,  and  thought  it  providential  to  have 
a  crowd.  I  arrived  in  Wichita  the  28th,  the  raid  was 
postponed  until  the  29th.  I  took  hatchets  with  me  and 
we  also  supplied  ourselves  with  rocks,  meeting  at  the 
M.  E,  church,  where  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention  was 
being  held.  I  announced  to  them  what  we  intended 
doing  and  asked  them  to  join  us.  Sister  Lucy  Wil- 
hoite,  Myra  McHenry,  Miss  Lydia  Muntz  and  Miss 
Blanch  Boies;  started  for  Mahan's  wholesale  liquor 
store.  Three  men  were  on  the  watch  for  us.  We 
asked  to  go  in  to  hold  gospel  services  as  was  our  in 
tention  before  destroying  this  den  of  vice,  for  we  want 
ed  God  to  save  their  souls,  and  to  give  us  ability  and 
opportunity  to  destroy  this  soul  damning  business. 
They  refused  to  let  us  come  near  the  door.  I  said: 
"Women,  we  will  have  to  use  our  hatchets."  With  this 
I  threw  a  rock  through  the  front,  then  we  were  all 
seized,  and  a  call  for  the  police  was  made.  There  was 
of  course,  a  big  crowd.  Mrs.  Myra  McHenry  was  in 
the  hands  of  a  ruffian  who  shook  her  almost  to  pieces. 
One  raised  a  piece  of  gas  pipe  to  strike  her,  but  was 
prevented  from  doing  so.  We  were  hustled  into  the 
hoodlum  wagon,  and  driven  through  the  streets  amid 
the  yells,  execrations  and  grimaces  of  the  liquor  ele 
ment.  I  watched  their  faces  and  could  see  that  Satan 
was  roused  in  them  beyond  their  control,  making  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  293 

most  diabolical  faces  sticking  out  their  tongues!  At 
what?  Just  five  women,  who  were  doing  with  their 
might  what  their  hands  found  to  do.  Just  five  living 
hearts  that  dared  to  give  their  lives  to  save  them.  Just 
gray-haired  women,  mothers,  and  grandmothers,  who, 
for  love  they  could  not  contain,  rushed  in  to  save  their 
loved  ones,  from  ruin. 

There  never  was  such  a  sight.  Angels  wept  and 
devils  yelled  with  diabolical  glee.  We  were  taken  to 
Police  Headquarters,  that  is,  four  of  us,  the  Police  had 
not  taken 'Blanch  Boies,  who  dodged  them,  and  with 
her  axe  smashed  out  two  windows,  after  which  she 
went  to  Sister  Wilhoite's  home,  and  would  not  have 
been  arrested  had  she  not  called  to  see  us  next  day, 
and  giving  her  name  was  immedately  arrested  and 
shut  in  with  us.  Water  was  standing  in  the  low  places 
in  the  cell  we  occupied,  caused  by  a  leakage  in  the 
pipes,  I  don't  think  this  neglect  was  intentional,  but  it 
was  none  the  less  dangerous  as  it  was  below  ground. 
The  beds  were  shelves  in  the  wall,  very  hard  of  course, 
but  we  might  have  had  some  degree  of  comfort  if  it 
had  not  been  for  the  dirt  and  rats  which  seemed  to  de 
light  in  having  some  one  to  run  around  and  over.  It 
was  so  ordered  that  there  was  a  Bible  in  the  crowd, 
and  as  we  were  not  in  stocks  we  had  far  more  to  re 
joice  over  than  Paul  and  Silas,  holding  a  continuous 
praise  and  prayer  service,  reading  and  repeating  the 
word  of  God.  We  were  kept  there  from  Friday  till 
Monday  morning  without  a  charge  against  us.  Sun 
day  morning  we  squeezed  the  juice  out  of  some  grapes, 
some  kind  friends  had  sent  us,  and  reading  for  our  les 
son  where  Jesus  washed  the  disciples  feet  and  partook 


29 -I  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

of  the  sacrament,  Sister  McHenry  sprang  to  her  feet 
after  partaking  of  the  emblems,  said  she  saw  the  most 
beautiful  cross  on  the  wall,  surrounded  by  a  divine 
halo,  exclaiming:  "Now  I  know  what  it  is  to. have  a 
vision,  I  thought  it  might  be  imagination."  Our 
friends  were  not  permitted  to  come  into  the  jail  or 
even  to  the  door,  so  many  of  them  came  to  the  railing 
on  the  outside,  where  some  of  the  officials  threw  water 
on  them  from  the  upper  windows  to  keep  them  away. 
We  were  taken  to  the  county  jail  on  Monday  and  had 
a  trial  for  malicious  mischief  on  Wednesday.  We 
plead  our  own  cases,  and  never  in  the  history  of  the 
world  did  a  nation  or  people  see  mothers  tried  for  try 
ing  to  save  their  loved  ones  from  the  slaughter  of  a 
government  whose  business  it  is  to  protect  women  and 
their  children.  Tears  were  in  the  eyes  of  many  when 
Sister  Lucy  Wilhoite  and  Sister  McHenry  told  of  their 
boys  being  led  into  vice  by  the  officials  of  Wichita. 
Poor  degraded  Wichita  with  her  corrupt  officials  and 
that  vile  Wichita  Eagle,  and  its  Murdocks.  But  God 
has  a  people  there  and  they  will  be  victors  in  this  fight. 
We  were  convicted  of  course,  I  got  thirty  days  in  jail 
and  $150,  the  rest  $150,  except  Sister  Muntz,  who  only 
got  $50.  We  employed  Judge  Ray  to  take  our  cases 
to  the  District  Court.  At  the  present  writing  I  am  out 
on  bail  and  so  far  as  the  jail  is  concerned,  I  do  not 
dread  it.  God  will  liberate  some  when  I  am  in  bonds. 
Poor  women,  poor  mothers.  God  who  "tempers  the 
wind  to  the  shorn  lamb,"  will  come  to  their  relief  from 
a  degradation  worse  than  death. 

AFTER  TRIAL  IN  THE  DISTRICT  COURT. 

I  am  out  on  parole  under  a  jail  sentence  of  four 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.    NATION.  295 

months,  and  a  fine  of  $250.00.  This  man  Wilson,  who 
is  in  the  place  of  a  judge,  knows  that  it  is  a  lawless 
outrage,  but  true  to  his  party  or  trust  he  stands  by  the 
combine  for  as  long  as  the  Republican  Liquor  Power 
controls  office  motherhood  is  sacrificed  to  the  greed  of 
this  boa  constrictor  that  coils  its  huge  body  crushing 
out  the  life  and  soul  of  man,  woman  and  child. 

If  Roosevelt  had  a  sincere  interest  in  increasing  the 
population  by  urging  women  to  bear  children  he 
would  say  something  about  what  makes  it  a  terror  to 
do  so. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

SKETCH   BY  WILL  CARLTON,   IN   HIS   MAGAZINE,   "EVERY 
WHERE." 

Some  years  ago,  the  American  public,  always  long 
ing  for  "something  new/'  was  treated  to  an  absolutely 
unique  sensation.  A  woman  armed  with  a  hatchet  had 
gone  into  a  Kansas  liquor  saloon  and  smashed  up  its 
appurtenances,  in  a  very  thorough  and  unconventional 
manner.  After  this,  she  went  into  and  through  an 
other,  and  another;  and  it  began  to  look  as  if  all  the 
bibulous  paraphernalia  of  Kansas  were  about  to  be 
sent  into  the  twilight. 

When  the  smoke  had  somewhat  cleared  away,  and 
time  elapsed  sufficient  to  garner  these  circumstances 
into  authentic  news,  it  transpired  that  the  woman  who 
had  done  this  was  Mrs.  Carry  A.  Nation — utterly  ob 
scure  and  unknown  until  that  week. 

This  raid  among  decanters  was  a  very  singular  and 
startling  act,  for  a  .woman  ;  but,  somehow,  people  found 
it  refreshing.  It  represented  precisely  what  many  had 
imagined  in  their  minds,  what  thousands  of  women 
had  wished  they  themselves  could  or  dared  do,  what 
myraids  of  confirmed  drinkers,  even,  had  wished  might 
be  done.  News  of  Mrs.  Nation's  swift  and  decided 
action  went  all  over  the  country,  like  a  stiff,  healthy 
gale.  She  was  sharply  criticised — but  there  lurked 
very  often  a  "dry  grin"  behind  the  criticism.  This 
smashing  was  all  very  direct  and  unique ;  and  Amer 
icans  are  in  general  fond  of  directness  and  uniqueness. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.    NATION.  297 

It  was,  technically,  illegal ;  but,  even  so,  it  was  remark 
ed  that  the  saloons  which  Mrs.  Nation  wrecked,  were 
themselves  in  brazen  defiance  of  the  laws  of  the  state 
of  Kansas — unenforced  on  account  of  the  fear  or  ven 
ality  of  public  officers. 

The  work  of  this  determined  woman  went  on  with 
a  thoroughness  and  promptness  that  made  it  ultra- 
interesting.  She  was  imprisoned  again  and  again,  and 
became  an  inmate,  at  one  time  and  another,  of  some 
thirty-two  different  jails.  She  had  trial  after  trial — 
in  which  was  developed  the  fact  that  her  tongue  was 
as  sharp  as  her  hatchet ;  she  often  addressing  even  the 
judge  presiding,  as  "Your  Dishonor,"  while  prosecut 
ing  attorneys  she  treated  with  supreme  scorn.  Not 
much  mercy  was  shown  her  in  the  county  bastiles ;  she 
was  often  bestowed  in  cells  next  to  insane  people — in 
the  hope,  she  thinks,  that  she  might  become  really 
crazy,  as  well  as  reputedly  so.  One  sheriff,  finding 
that  the  fumes  of  cigarette  smoking  made  her  ill,  treat 
ed  all  her  fellow-inmates  to  the  little  white  cylinders, 
and  set  them  at  work  puffing  vigorously.  Chivalry 
and  humanity  seemed,  for  the  time  being,  to  have  fad 
ed  from  men's  minds. 

In  these  different  immurments,  she  had  time  to  write 
her  friends  and  even  publish  a  paper,  called,  "The 
Smasher's  Mail."  She  told  how  she  came  to  do  this 
work;  it  was,  she  claimed,  by  the  direct  command  of 
God.  She  had  promised  Him  that  if  He  would  for 
give  her  many  sins,  she  would  work  for  Him  in  ways 
no  one  else  would ;  and  He  took  her  at  her  word — or 
dering  her  to  go  and  smash  saloons.  This,  of  course, 
provokes  a  smile,  among  most  people,  but  Mrs.  Nation 


298  THE   USE  AND    NEED  OF 

is  not  the  first  one  that  has  worked  under  God's  com 
mand — whether  real  or  supposed. 

At  last,  so  many  fines  were  heaped  up  against  her, 
which  must  be  paid  before  she  could  be  liberated,  that 
it  seemed  to  her  as  if  she  would  never  get  free;  but 
in  this  dark  hour,  a  lecture  agent  appeared,  and  said 
he  would  pay  the  amount  if  she  would  give  him  some 
"dates."  She  laughingly  says  now,  that  she  did  not 
know  what  he  meant;  and  actually  wondered  if  he 
thought  she  was  a  fruit  dealer.  But  when  he  explained 
what  he  meant  by  "dates,"  a  chance  to  go  on  the  plat 
form  and  give  the  people  a  reason  for  the  hatchet  that 
was  in  her  hand,  she  saw  the  gates  were  opened ;  and 
enthusiastically  went  from  jail  to  the  lecture  platform. 

She  became  immediately  a  drawing  card — in  assem 
bly  halls  in  some  churches,  and  even  at  county  fairs. 
She  worked,  tirelessly  and  industriously,  to  pay  back 
the  lecture  agent  for  the  sums  he  had  advanced;  and 
after  a  time  found  surplus  amounts  on  hand. 

She  did  not  hesitate  very  long  as  to  the  purpose  for 
which  they  were  to  be  applied.  Her  personal  expenses 
were  very  small ;  she  dresses  plainly ;  and  believes  that 
God  is  entitled  to  her  financial  gains. 

"A  home  for  drunkards'  wives,"  was  her  first 
thought,  after  paying  the  fine  money,  and  she  set  about 
it,  and  is  working  for  it  now. 

After  her  platform  work  had  proceeded  for  a  time, 
it  was  decided  that  she  should  star  in  the  play,  "Ten 
Nights  in  a  Bar-room."  As  all  know,  who  have  wit 
nessed  this  simple  but  powerful  drama,  every  act  of 
it  is  a  prohibition  lecture,  and  Mrs.  Nation's  part,  that 
of  the  mother  of  the  murdered  boy,  was  a  lecture  of 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.  NATION.  299 

itself.  In  one  scene,  she  was  represented  as  smashing 
a  saloon,  most  thoroughly;  and  this  business  was  the 
most  popular  of  anything  in  the  play — even  at  theatres 
that  drew  most  of  their  patronage  from  habitues  of 
saloons. 

Mrs.  Nation's  reasons  for  stepping  from  the 
churches  to  the  foot-lights,  is  not  without  its  logic,  in 
these  days.  "People  go  to  the  theatres  more  than  they 
do  the  churches,"  she  says,  "and  I  want  to  go  where 
there  are  plenty  of  people  to  hear  me,  and  where  they 
need  me." 

From  the  regular  theatre  she  passed,  and  from  the 
same  reasons,  to  the  vaudeville,  and  did  her  regular 
"stunts"  along  with  the  singers,  the  dancers,  and  har 
lequins,  acrobats,  and  the  burnt  cork  humorist.  The 
writer  of  this  has  seen  her  in  one  of  these  perform 
ances,  and  considers  it  entirely  unique  and  unmistak 
ably  commendable. 

It  was  in  one  of  the  most  "free  and  easy"  vaudeville 
shows  in  Greater  New  York,  and  the  audience,  com 
posed  of  men  and  boys,  was  a  hilarious  one,  and  could 
have  even  become  a  turbulent  one,  if  anything  had  oc 
curred  that  did  not  please  them.  Many  were  half 
drunk,  or  nearly  so.  "Smoke,  if  you  want  to,"  was 
lettered  on  a  conspicuous  sign,  and  most  of  this  audi 
ence  wanted  to.  In  the  midst  of  the  exercises,  an  in 
terlude  occurred,  in  which  the  audience  was  invited  to 
a  saloon  down  stairs,  where  they  could  proceed  still 
farther  in  the  liquid  burning  out  of  their  bodies.  On 
the  same  stage  of  this  same  vaudeville  theatre,  John  L. 
Sullivan,  the  retired  prize  fighter,  had,  only  a  week 
before,  appeared  "in  monologue,"  and  had  sometimes 


300  THE   USE   AND    NEED  OF 

been  so  drunk  that  he  could  not  go  through  with  his 
part. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this,  Carry  Nation  was  announc 
ed,  and  she  stepped  upon  the  stage,  unattended  by  any 
glare  of  colored  lights  or  fanfare  of  music.  A  quiet, 
motherly  looking  woman,  plainly  dressed,  with  a  Bible 
in  her  hand,  she  commanded  almost  immediately  the 
respect  of  that  large  crowd — from  the  men  in  the  or 
chestra  stalls  to  the  gallery  gods.  One  half  intoxicat 
ed  fellow  began  to  scoff  at  her,  but  was  almost  immed 
iately  hushed  by  the  scarcely  less  drunken  ones  around 
him.  It  was  a  sight  that  hushed  them  all  into  respect 
ful  silence,  for  a  respectable,  earnest  woman,  with  the 
Holy  Book  in  her  hands,  will  have  a  subduing  effect 
upon  almost  any  company  of  people. 

Mrs.  Nation  announced  her  text,  and  preached  a 
sermon,  and  delivered  a  temperance  lecture,  both  with 
in  the  half-hour.  (The  latter  she  calls  a  "prohibition 
lecture" — hating  the  word  temperance,  as  applied  to 
drink.) 

She  said  words,  such  as  had  probably  not  been  heard 
by  most  of  those  there,  for  a  great  many  years.  She 
told  them  what  sots  they  were  making  of  themselves, 
and  made  her  points  so  emphatic  that  they  cheered  her 
— almost  in  spite  of  themselves.  She  commenced  her 
speech  as  an  experiment,  so  far  as  that  day's  audience 
was  concerned ;  she  closed  a  heroine.  She  did  not  re 
main  idle  during  the  time  between  her  appearances  on 
the  stage,  but  cultivated  the  acquaintances  of  the  actors 
and  actresses,  and,  it  is  said,  to  their  good. 

That  is  what  Mrs.  Nation  is  doing  now,  on  what  is 
called  the  eastern  vaudeville  circuit;  and  it  would  be 


THl£  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  301 

hard  to  see  how  one  woman  could  do  more  good  in 
half  an  hour,  than  she  does ;  and  that  among  those  that 
need  it  most. 

Mrs.  Nation's  whole  name  is  Carrie  Amelia  Nation, 
but  having  noticed  from  old  records  that  her  father 
wrote  the  first  name  "Carry,"  she  now  does  the  same, 
and  considers  the  name  portentous  as  concerns  what 
she  is  trying  and  means  to  do.  She  believes,  she  says, 
that  it  is  her  mission  to  "carry  a  nation"  from  the 
darkness  of  drunken  bestiality  into  the  light  of  purity 
and  sobriety;  and  if  she  can  do  this,  or  in  any  great 
measure  contribute  to  it,  there  are  millions  of  people 
in  the  world,  that  will  bid  her  God  speed. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

ALCOHOL  NOT  A  DRINK. NOT  A  FOOD. DR.    N.   S.   IJAViS 

OF    CHICAGO. NANSEN    OF    NORWAY. NOT    A     MED 
ICINE. HOW    IT   ACTS     ON    THE     HEART. DOES     NOT 

ALLAY  PAIN. CAUSES  DISEASE. AT  WATER'S  ERROR. 

SCIENTIFIC  TESTIMONY  ON   BEER. 

A  scientific  article  on  the  effects  of  alcohol  on  the 
human  system.  If  any  doctor  should  try  to  deceive  you 
here  is  the  proof  of  his  malicious  intent  to  drug  you. 

LIQUOR    DRINKING    IN   HEALTH   AND   DI 
SEASE. 

REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  UPON  THE  PROGRESS  MADE 
IN  MEDICAL  SCIENCE  IN  FAVOR  OF  TEMPERANCE  DUR 
ING  THE  YEAR  ENDING  JUNE  1,  1902. A.  W.  GUT- 
RIDGE,  CHAIRMAN,  READ  AT  THE  THIRTY-FIRST  AN 
NUAL  CONVEN'J  ION  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  TOTAL  ABSTIN 
ENCE  UNION  OF  THE  ARCHDIOCESE  OF  ST.  PAUL,  AND 
ORDERED  PUBLISHED  BY  THE  CONVENTION. 

In  order  to  understand  what  progress  has  been 
made  during  the  year,  it  is  necessary  to  note  the  con 
dition  of  affairs  at  the  commencement  of  the  period. 

Long  before  this  committee  began  work  the  leading 
physicians  of  every  enlightened  country,  the  men  to 
whom  the  entire  profession  looks  for  guidance,  had 
declared  against  the  use  of  alcohol  both  in  health  and 
in  disease. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  303 

IS  ALCOHOL  A  DRINK  ? 

One  reason  why  all  the  greatest  physicians  believed 
it  harmful  was  because  it  had  been  found  that  alcohol 
was  not  a  drink.  The  most  abundant  substance  found 
in  the  human  body,  is  water.  About  130  pounds  of 
the  weight  of  a  160-pound  person  is  water,  "Quite 
enough  if  rightly  arranged  to  drown  him."  Man  has 
been  irreverently  described  as  "about  30  pounds  of 
solids  set  up  in  13  gallons  of  water."  So  it  is  quite  na 
tural  for  us  to  hunger  for  water ;  "death  by  thirst  is 
more  rapid  and  distressing  than  by  starvation."  "It  is 
through  the  medium  of  the  water  contained  in  the 
animal  body  that  all  its  vital  functions  are  carried  on." 
Dr.  W.  B.  Richardsgn  of  England  has  pointed  out 
more  than  fifty  characteristics  of  the  action  of  a  nat 
ural  drink  upon  the  system.  The  action  of  alcohol  is  the 
opposite  of  these  in  every  particular,  and  therefore  it 
is  not  a  real  or  natural  drink.  Of  course  the  water 
which  is  found  in  mixture  in  all  alcoholic  liquors  serves 
to  quench  thirst,  even  though  it  is  often  foul  water. 

IS  IT  A  FOOD? 

We  also  found,  upon  taking  up  the  work  imposed 
upon  us,  that  alcohol  had  been  demonstrated  not  to  be 
a  food.  Many  classifications  of  foods  have  been  made, 
but  about  the  best  is  that  which  divides  them  broadly 
into  two  classes :  to  use  homely  language,  flesh  formers 
and  body  warmers ;  those  which  build  up  or  repair  the 
bodily  waste,  and  those  which  sustain  the  animal 
warmth.  The  slow  fire  within  us  being  necessary  to 
life  we  hunger  for  that  only  which  will  replace  the 
substance  destroyed  by  the  burning.  "To  the  child  of 


304  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

nature  all  hurtful  things  are  repulsive,  all  beautiful 
things  attractive."  As  to  flesh  formers,  it  had  been 
noted  that  all  foods  useful  in  repairing  bodily  waste 
contain  the  element  nitrogen.  Alcohol  contains  no 
nitrogen,  and  so  could  not  be  classed  among  body 
builders.  The  chief  body  warmer  is  sugar.  Alcohol 
being  a  product  of  sugar,  people  were  all  misled  for 
years  into  thinking  that  it  does  in  some  kind  and  de 
gree  feed  the  system.  The  mistake  was  easy,  since 
after  taking  alcohol  there  is  a  temporary  increase  in 
vivacity  of  mind  and  manner  and  in  surface  temper 
ature,  and  a  lessened  requirement  for  regular  foods. 
These  opinions  had  been  tested  in  the  light  of  truth  and 
proved  erroneous.  Axel  Gustafson,  in  his  Foundation 
of  Death,  considers  this  subject  at  length.  As  early 
as  1840  French  physicians  discovered  that  alcohol  act 
ually  reduced  the  temperature  of  the  body.  Promin 
ent  German  and  English  medical  men  soon  confirmed 
the  statement,  and  in  1850,  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  of  Chi 
cago,  the  founder  of  the  American  Medical  Associa 
tion,  in  speaking  of  a  number  of  observations  during 
the  active  period  of  digestion  after  ordinary  food, 
whether  nitrogenous  or  carbonaceous  "the  temperature 
of  the  body  is  always  increased,  but  after  taking  alco 
hol,  in  either  the  form  of  the  fermented  or  the  distilled 
drinks,  it  begins  to  fall  within  half  an  hour  and  con 
tinues  to  decrease  for  from  two  to  three  hours.  The 
extent  and  duration  of  the  reduction  was  in  direct  pro 
portion  to  the  amount  of  alcohol  taken."  The  most 
prominent  physician  in  Austria,  Italy,  Switzerland, 
Scandinavia  and  Russia  reached  similar  conclusions 
shortly  after  this.  In  explorations  in  the  Arctic  regions 

19 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  305 

where  the  cold  is  intense,  no  alcoholic  drinks  are  per 
mitted.  Dr.  Nansen,  the  great  Norwegian,  attributes 
the  fatalities  of  the  Greeley  expedition  to  the  use  of  li 
quor,  and  this  is  the  only  expedition  of  recent  years 
which  permitted  the  use  of  alcoholic  drinks.  As  a  mat 
ter  of  fact  it  was  long  ago  proved  that  "Alcohol  does 
not  warm  nor  cool  a  person,  but  only  destroys  the  sen 
sation  and  decreases  the  vitality."  Superficial  observ 
ers,  however,  have  upheld  the  use  of  alcohol  as  a  food, 
saying,  "See  how  fleshy  it  makes  people."  Well, 
healthy  fat  is  not  always  an  advantage,  but  beer  drink 
ers'  fat  is  not  the  genuine  article.  Healthy  fat  repre 
sents  a  stock  of  body  warming  food  laid  up  for  a  time 
of  need  and  is  formed  only  in  health.  The  "fat"  us 
ually  exhibited  by  beer  drinkers  is  not  a  fat  at  all ;  oil 
is  not  its  chief  factor.  It  consists  of  particles  of  partly 
digested  flesh  forming  food  which  the  system  required, 
but  which  it  was  unable  to  assimilate  owing  to  the 
presence  in  the  body  of  the  alcohol  which  the  beer  con 
tained.  This  sort  of  fat  instead  of  indicating  health 
points  to  disease.  This  general  teaching  as  to  the 
worthlessness  of  alcohol  as  a  food  had  been  set  forth 
by  the  leaders  in  the  medical  profession,  and  accepted 
largely  by. the  rank  and  file  of  practitioners  for  about 
twenty-five  years.  An  occasional  cry  came  from  the 
other  side,  however,  and  late  in  1899  Dr.  W.  O.  At- 
water,  professor  in  Wesleyan  University,  announced 
that  he  had,  by  an  extended  series  of  experiments, 
proved  the  truth  of  the  claims  of  those  experimentors 
who  believed  alcohol  to  have  value  as  a  food.  Dr. 
Atwater's  reports  were  widely  published  by  the  whis 
key  press,  and  a  state  of  some  unrest  amongst  think- 


306  THE   USE   AND    NEED   OF 

ing  physicians  followed,  which  had  not  been  wholly 
quieted  when  this  committee  began  work. 

IS   IT  A    MEDICINE? 

At  the  time  we  began  work,  however,  it  had  beeti 
demonstrated  that  alcohol  is  not  a  medicine.  Many 
years  ago  Dr.  Nottingham,  a  great  English  physician, 
said :  "Alcohol  is  neither  food  nor  physic."  Dr.  Nicols, 
editor  Boston  Journal  of  Chemistry,  long  ago  wrote, 
"The  banishment  of  alcohol  would  not  deprive  us  of 
a  single  one  of  the  indispensable  agents  which  modern 
civilization  demands.  In  no  instance  of  disease  in  any 
form,  is  it  a  medicine  which,  might  not  be  dispensed 
with."  Dr.  Bunge,  professor  of  physical  chemistry  in 
the  University  of  Basle,  Switzerland,  said :  "In  general 
let  it  be  understood  that  all  the  workings  of  alcohol  in 
the  system  which  usually  are  considered  as  excitement 
or  stimulation  are  only  indications  of  paralysis.  It  is 
a  deep-rooted  error,  sense  of  fatigue  is  the  safety  value 
of  the  human  organism.  Whoever  dulls  this  sense  in 
order  to  work  harder  or  longer  may  be  likened  to  an 
engineer  who  sits  down  on  his  safety  valve  in  order 
to  make  better  speed  with  his  engine."  Dr.  F.  H. 
Hammond  of  the  U.  S.  army  said :  "Alcohol  strength 
ens  no  one.  It  only  deadens  the  feeling  of  fatigue." 
Dr.  Sims  Woodhead,  professor  in  Cambridge  Univers 
ity,  England,  had  given  the  following  list  of  conditions 
in  which  alcohol  should  not  be  used:  In  those  (1) 
who  have  any  family  history  of  drunkenness,  insanity, 
or  nervous  disease.  (2)  Who  have  used  alcohol  to 
excess  in  childhood  or  youth.  (3)  Who  are  nervous, 
irritable  or  badly  nourished.  (4)  Who  suffer  from 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  307 

injuries  to  the  head,  gross  disease  of  the  brain  and  sun 
stroke.  (5)  Who  suffer  from  great  bodily  weakness, 
particularly  during  convalescence  from  exhausting  di 
sease.  (6)  Who  are  engaged  in  exciting  or  exhaust 
ing  employment,  in  bad  air  and  surroundings,  in  work 
shops  and  mines.  (7)  Who  are  solitary  or  lonely  or 
require  amusement.  (8)  Who  have  little  self-control 
either  hereditary  or  acquired.  (9)  Who  suffer  from 
weakness,  the  result  of  senile  degeneration.  (10)  Who 
suffer  from  organic  or  functional  diseases  of  the  stom 
ach,  liver,  kidney  or  heart.  (11)  Who  are  young. 

Much  has  been  said  concerning  the  stimulating  ef 
fect  of  alcohol  upon  the  heart,  and  this  had  been  treat 
ed  at  length.  There  is  an  increased  action  of  about 
four  thousand  beats  in  twenty-four  hours  for  every 
ounce  of  alcohol  used.  This  fact  still  misleads  some 
physicians  into  prescribing  it  to  strengthen  the  weak 
heart,  but  the  increase  is  not  due  to  new  force.  The 
heart  action  normally  is  the  result  of  arterial  pressure 
and  nervous  action,  two  forces  mutually  balancing 
each  other.  The  nervous  action  is  diminished  by  the 
introduction  of  the  alcohol ;  this  destroys  the  balance 
and  deranges  the  arterial  pressure.  Dr.  James  Ed 
munds,  a  great  English  physician,  years  ago  said: 
"When  we  see  a  man  breathing  with  great  vigor,  does 
it  occur  to  us  that  he  must  be  in  good  health  ?  Is  it  an 
indication  that  he  gets  more  air  ?  We  all  know  better. 
It  simply  shows  that  he  has  asthma  or  some  such  di 
sease,  and  that  his  breathing  is  strained  and  imperfect. 
He  is  making  use  of  less  air  than  the  person  who 
breathes  quietly.  This  is  the  case  with  the  blood  work, 
so  it  plunges  and  struggles  in  the  effort.  And  the 


308  THE   USE  AND   NEED   OF 

cause  of  both  cases  is  the  same.  There  is  more  car 
bonic  acid  in  the  blood  than  either  the  heart  or  the 
lungs  can  handle.  If  for  example  I  were  suffering 
from  general  debility  and  milk  were  the  food  best 
suited  to  my  needs,  and  if  I  should  discover  a  tramp 
in  my  apartments  drinking  of  my  already  too  limited 
supply,  would  it  be  reasonable  to  assert  that  the  ex 
hibition  of  strength  which  I  made  in  forcing  him  to 
desist  is  an  indication  that  the  entrance  of  the  vagrant 
bettered  my  enfeebled  condition  ?  The  greater  activity 
of  the  heart  is  not  due  to  the  added  strength  resulting 
from  recruits  of  friends  but  to  a  desperate  struggle  to 
beat  back  a  reinforced  enemy." 

That  alcohol  does  not  allay  pain  had  been  estab 
lished  when  this  committee  was  organized.  The  only 
proper  method  of  allaying  pain  is  to  remedy  the  dis 
order  which  produced  it.  It  is  no  remedy  to  deaden 
the  nerves  so  that  we  cannot  feel  it.  This  reasoning 
had  been  found  good  in  the  case  of  alcohol  as  a  rem 
edy  in  "colds."  Whiskey  does  not  relieve  the  uneasi 
ness  and  oppression  we  experience  when  ailing  from  a 
cold,  it  only  benumbs  the  nerves  so  we  do  not  feel  the 
trouble.  The  cure  is  not  hastened  but  delayed  in  this 
way. 

IS  IT  THE  CAUSE  OF  DISEASE  ? 

Besides  the  fact  that  alcohol  had,  before  this  com 
mittee's  existence,  been  proved  to  be  neither  a  drink 
nor  a  food  nor  a  medicine,  it  had  also  been  shown  to 
be  the  cause  of  disease.  Over  five  thousand  of  the 
most  prominent  physicians  in  this  country  had  so  stat 
ed  it,  and  the  proportion  was  equally  great  in  all  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  301> 

enlightened  countries  of  Europe.  The  most  pronounc 
ed  in  this  way,  perhaps,  have  been  the  great  leaders  in 
medical  science  in  Austria,  Germany  and  France. 
Some  of  the  points  made  against  the  use  of  alcohol 
were  that  it  interferes  with  digestion  by  rendering  in 
soluble  the  active  principle  of  the  gastric  juice,  and 
especially  by  preventing  the  solution  of  body-building 
foods.  The  natural  action  of  various  organs  of  the 
body  is  more  or  less  arrested  by  alcohol,  thus  reduc 
ing  the  temperature.  This  from  Dr.  Edmunds  already 
quoted:  "The  blood  carries  certain  earthy  matters  in 
it  in  a  soluble  state,  these  earthy  matters  being  neces 
sary  for  the  nutrition  of  the  bones  and  other  parts  of 
the  body.  You  all  know  that  when  wine  is  fermented 
and  turned  from  a  weak  sweet  wine  into  a  strong  alco 
holic  wine,  you  get  what  is  called  a  'crust'  formed  on 
the  inside  of  the  bottle.  What  is  that  crust?  That 
crust  consists  of  saline  or  earthy  matters  which  were 
soluble  in  the  saccharine  grape  juice,  but  which  are 
insoluble  in  the  alcoholic  fluids.  We  find  in  drunkards 
that  the  blood  vessels  get  into  the  same  state  as  the 
wine  bottles  from  the  deposit  of  earthy  matter  which 
has  no  business  to  be  deposited,  and  forms  the  'bees 
wing'  or  crust  in  the  blood  vessels  of  the  drunkard,  in 
his  eye  and  in  all  of  the  tissues  of  the  body."  Alcohol 
had  been  found  to  prevent  the  elimination  of  waste, 
thus  the  body  is  loaded  with  worn  and  decaying  tissues, 
leaving  the  system  an  inviting  field  for  all  sorts  of  di 
seases.  Life  insurance  companies,  influenced  by  busi 
ness  interests  wholly,  make  a  distinction  between  li 
quor  users  and  non-users.  Nelson,  a  distinguished 
actuary  of  England,  employed  as  an  expert  by  life  in- 


310  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

surance  companies,  found  after  investigating  over 
7,000  cases,  none  of  which  were  drunkards,  that  be 
tween  the  ages  of  15  and  20  the  proportion  of  deaths 
in  total  abstainers  to  those  in  moderate  drinkers  is  as 
10  to  18 ;  between  the  ages  of  25  and  30,  as  10  to  31 ; 
between  30  and  40  as  10  is  to  40. 

With  reference  to  the  effect  on  the  offspring  of 
drinking  parents,  the  medical  profession  had  accepted 
the  teaching  of  the  French  specialist,  Dr.  Jaccound, 
that  "of  the  children  of  drinkers  some  of  them  become 
inbeciles  and  idots;  others  are  feeble  in  mind,  exhibit 
moral  perversion,  and  sink  by  degrees  into  complete 
degeneration ;  still  others  arc  epileptics,  deaf  and 
dumb,  scrofulous,  etc.,"  and  of  the  English  teacher, 
Dr.  Kerr,  that  "long  continued  habitual  indulgence  in 
intoxicating  drink  to  an  extent  far  short  of  intoxica 
tion  is  not  only  sufficient  to  originate  and  hand  down 
a  morbid  tendency,  but  is  much  more  likely  to  do  so 
than  even  repeated  drunken  outbreaks  with  intervals 
of  sobriety  between." 

Thus  the  men  who  have  been  of  the  greatest  honor 
to  the  profession  in  every  land  were  a  unit  in  opposing 
the  use  of  alcohol  in  health  or  disease  and  in  holding 
that  if  people  are  determined  to  use  it  there  is  less 
danger  in  health,  as  then  the  system  is  in  better  condi 
tion  to  throw  off  its  evil  effects. 

PROGRESS  DURING  THE  PAST  YEAR. 

Now  as  to  the  progress  made  during  the  past  year. 
In  June,  1901,  the  American  Medical  Association  met 
in  St.  Paul.  The  branch  of  it  giving  special  study  to 
the  temperance  question  held  several  sessions,  about 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  311 

one  hundred  of  the  most  distinguished  physicians  in 
the  country  attending.  Much  time  was  given  to  con 
sidering  Dr.  Atwater's  teaching  to  the  effect  that  he 
had  proved  alcohol  to  be  a  food.  During  the  previous 
year  he  had  published  the  details  of  his  experiments, 
and  at  the  convention  it  was  shown  that  his  own  ex 
periments  upset  his  conclusions.  It  had  been  held  that 
except  in  rare  instances  alcohol  taken  into  the  system 
passed  away  from  it  as  alcohol  without  change.  Dr. 
Atwater's  experiments  strengthened  somewhat  the 
position  of  those  who  held  that  change  is  not  infre 
quent,  but  he  concluded  that  the  portion  broken  up 
while  in  the  body  served  as  a  food.  A  closer  examin 
ation  of  his  own  experiments  showed  that  the  portion 
oxidized  had  gone  to  form  other  compounds  in  the  sys 
tem  which  were  possibly  more  harmful  than  if  it  had 
all  passed  off  unchanged.  Dr.  Max  Kassowitz,  pro 
fessor  in  the  University  of  Vienna,  said,  after  Dr.  At 
water's  statement  had  been  published :  "For  the  animal 
and  human  organism,  alcohol  is  not  both  a  food  and 
a  poison,  but  a  poison  only,  which  like  other  poisons 
is  an  irritant  when  taken  in  small  doses  while  in  larger 
ones  it  produces  paralysis."  In  connection  with  the 
fact  that  alcohol  is  simply  a  poison,  it  may  be  worth 
stating,  that  the  original  meaning  of  the  word  "intoxi 
cated"  was  "poisoned."  After  reading  Dr.  Atwater, 
the  Russian  Commission  for  the  study  of  alcoholism, 
after  two  years'  work,  said:  "The  claim  that  alcohol 
is  a  food  in  any  proper  sense  of  the  term  is  not  suffic 
iently  proved."  In  the  St.  Paul  convention  spoken  of, 
politics  obtained  a  foothold,  and  some  weak  resolu 
tions  in  favor  of  the  army  canteen  were  adopted  but 


312  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

not  even  the  champions  of  the  canteen  were  willing  to 
subscribe  to  the  statement  that  alcohol  is  ever  a  real 
food. 

Just  previous  to  our  last  convention  much  noise  was 
made  through  the  daily  press  concerning  a  finding  of 
some  English  scientist  to  the  effect  that  an  acquired 
tendency  cannot  be  transmitted  to  offspring.  We  were 
told  that  this  would  upset  the  theory  that  children  in 
herit  a  craving  for  intoxicants  from  intemperate  par 
ents,  and  "the  moralists  and  reformers  would  have  to 
readjust  their  logic  on  these  points."  In  the  annual  re 
port  of  the  president  of  the  Union  a  year  ago,  atten 
tion  was  drawn  to  the  fact  that  those  who  indulge  in 
this  sort  of  sophistry  have  not  read  what  the  teachings 
of  temperance  workers  have  been  on  the  subject.  Such 
was  not  the  opinion  of  the  scientists  making  the  re 
port,  for  it  says,  "Children  of  d^mkards  are  liable  to 
be  mentally  and  physically  weak  and  tend  to  become 
paupers,  criminals,  epileptics  and  drunkards."  It  will 
be  seen  from  what  has  been  said  that  this  is  the  posi 
tion  we  have  held  all  along.  Dr.  Davis,  the  dean  of 
American  physicians  opposing  the  use  of  alcohol,  has 
published  during  the  year  a  number  of  articles  show 
ing  the  impossibility  of  alcohol's  being  of  service  as 
a  medicine,  and  has  dwelt  especially  upon  its  harmful 
effects  in  fevers,  diseases  in  which  it  is  still  much  pre 
scribed.  The  two  influential  temperance  societies  com 
posed  of  American  physicians  have,  during  the  past 
year,  kept  up  the  agitation  against  alcohol  as  a  medi 
cine,  and  good  is  coming  from  it,  as  gradually  medical 
journals  are  giving  more  and  more  space  to  the  ques- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  313 

tion.     The  following  international  manifesto  has  been 
issued  by  the  leading  physicians  of  the  world: 

INTERNATIONAL  MEDICAL  MANIFESTO. 

"The  following  statement  has  been  agreed  upon  by 
the  Council  of  the  British  Medical  Temperance  Asso 
ciation,  the  American  Medical  Temperance  Associa 
tion,  the  Society  of  Medical  Abstainers  in  Germany, 
the  leading  physicians  in  England  and  on  the  contin 
ent.  The  purpose  of  this  is  to  have  a  general  agree 
ment  of  opinions  of  all  prominent  physicians  in  civil 
ized  countries  concerning  the  dangers  from  alcohol, 
and  in  this  way  give  support  to  the  efforts  made  to 
check  and  prevent  the  evils  from  this  source. 

In  view  of  the  terrible  evils  which  have  resulted 
from  the  consumption  of  alcohol,  evils  which  in  many 
parts  of  the  world  are  rapidly  increasing,  we,  members 
of  the  medical  profession,  feel  it  to  be  our  duty,  as 
being  in  some  sense  the  guardians  of  the  public  health, 
to  speak  plainly  of  the  nature  of  alcohol,  and  of  the 
injury  to  the  individual  and  the  danger  to  the  com 
munity  which  arise  from  the  prevalent  use  of  intox 
icating  liquors  as  beverages. 

We  think  that  it  ought  to  be  known  that : 

1.  Experiments  have  demonstrated  that  even  a 
small  quantity  of  alcoholic  liquor,  either  immediately 
or  after  a  short  time,  prevents  perfect  mental  action, 
and  interferes  with  the  functions  of  the  cells  and  tis 
sues  of  the  body,  impairing  self-control  by  producing 
other  markedly  injurious  effects.  Hence  alcohol  must 
be  regarded  as  a  poison,  and  ought  not  to  be  classed 
among  foods. 


314  THE   USE  AND   NEED   OF 

2.  Observation  establishes  the  fact  that  a  moderate 
use  of  alcoholic  liquors,  continued  over  a  number  of 
years,  produces  a  gradual  deterioration  of  the  tissues 
of  the  body,  and  hastens  the  changes  which  old  age 
brings,  thus  increasing  the  average  liability  to  disease 
(especially  to  infectious  disease,)   and  shortening  the 
duration  of  life. 

3.  Total  abstainers,  other  conditions  being  similar, 
can  perform  more  work,  possess  greater  powers  of 
endurance,  have  on  the  average  less  sickness,  and  re 
cover  more    quickly    than    non-abstainers,    especially 
from  infectious  diseases,  while  they  altogether  escape 
diseases  specially  caused  by  alcohol. 

4.  All  the  bodily  functions  of  a  man,  as  of  every 
other  animal,  are  best  performed  in  the  absence  of  al 
cohol,  and  any  supposed  experience  to  the  contrary  is 
founded  on  delusion,  a  result  of  the  action  of  alcohol 
on  the  nerve  centers. 

5.  Further,  alcohol  tends  to  produce  in  the  offspring 
of  drinkers  an  unstable  nervous  system,  lowering  them 
mentally,  morally  and  physically.     Thus  deterioration 
of  the  race  threatens  us,  and  this  is  likely  to  be  great 
ly  accelerated  by  the  alarming  increase  of    drinking 
among  women,  who  have  hitherto  been  little  addicted 
to  this  vice.    Since  the  mothers  of  the  coming  genera 
tion  are  thus  involved  the  importance  and  danger  of 
this  increase  cannot  be  exaggerated. 

See,  then,  that  the  common  use  of  alcoholic  bever 
ages  is  always  and  everywhere  followed,  sooner  or 
later,  by  moral,  physical  and  social  results  of  a  most 
serious  and  threatening  character,  and  that  it  is  the 
cause,  direct  or  indirect,  of  a  very  large  proportion  of 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  315 

the  poverty,  suffering,  vice,  crime,  lunacy,  disease  and 
death,  not  only  in  the  case  of  those  who  take  such  bev 
erages,  but  in  the  case  of  others  who  are  unavoidably 
associated  with  them,  we  feel  warranted,  nay,  compell 
ed  to  urge  the  general  adoption  of  total  abstinence 
from  all  intoxicating  liquors  as  beverages,  as  the  sur 
est,  simplest,  and  quickest  method  of  removing  the 
evils  which  necessarily  result  from  their  use.  Such 
a  course  is  not  only  universally  safe,  but  it  is  also  na 
tural. 

We  believe  that  such  an  era  of  health,  happiness  and 
prosperity  would  be  inaugurated  thereby  that  many 
of  the  social  problems  of  the  present  age  would  be 
solved." 

The  year  has  been  marked  by  more  detailed  exam 
ination  of  the  effects  of  alcohol  upon  the  human  sys 
tem,  with  the  result  that  progress  towards  its  eventual 
overthrow  as  a  medicine  has  been  distinctly  made. 
The  greatest  reforms  are  brought  about  quietly,  but 
truth  is  mighty  and  does  prevail.  It  will  take  time 
but  gradually  all  will  come  to  feel  the  suggestive  power 
in  the  fact  that  "The  table  of  nature  is  spread,  and 
bountifully  spread,  for  all  its  millions  upon  millions  of 
guests,  but  wine  and  strong  drink  are  not  on  the  table." 

SCIENTIFIC  TESTIMONY  ON  BEER. 

(From  speech  by  SENATOR  J.  H.  GALLINGER,  M.  D., 

January  9,  1901.) 

OPINIONS  OF  LEADING   PHYSICIANS. 

The  alarming  growth  of  the  use  of  beer  among  our 
people,  and  the  spreading  delusion  among  many  who 
consider  themselves  temperate  and  sober,  that  the  en- 


316  THE  USE  AND   NEED  OF 

couragement  of  beer  drinking  is  an  effective  way  of 
promoting  the  cause  of  temperance  and  of  aiding  to 
stamp  out  the  demon  rum,  impelled  the  Toledo  Blade 
to  send  a  representative  to  a  number  of  the  leading 
physicians  of  Toledo  to  obtain  their  opinions  as  to  the 
real  damage  which  indulgence  in  malt  liquors  does  the 
victim  of  that  form  of  intemperance. 

Every  one  is  not  only  a  gentleman  of  the  highest 
personal  character,  but  is  a  physician  whose  profes 
sional  abilities  have  been  severely  tested,  and  received 
the  stamp  of  the  highest  indorsement  by  the  public  and 
their  professional  brethren.  More  skillful  physicians 
are  not  to  be  found  anywhere.  We  have  not  selected 
those  of  known  temperance  principles.  What  they  say 
of  beer  is  not  colored  by  any  feeling  for  or  against 
temperance,  but  is  the  cold,  bare  experience  of  men  of 
science  who  know  whereof  they  speak. 

A  BEER  DRINKING  CITY. 

Toledo  is  essentially  a  beer  drinking  city.  The  Ger 
man  population  is  very  large.  Five  of  the  largest 
breweries  in  the  country  are  here.  Probably  more  beer 
is  drank,  in  proportion  to  the  population,  than  in  any 
other  city  in  the  United  States.  The  practice  of  these 
physicians  is,  therefore,  largely  among  beer  drinkers, 
and  they  have  had  abundant  opportunities  to  know  ex 
actly  its  bearings  on  health  and  disease. 

Every  one  bears  testimony  that  no  man  can  drink 
beer  safely,  that  it  is  an  injury  to  any  one  who  uses  it 
in  any  quantity,  and  that  its  effect  on  the  general  health 
of  the  country  has  been  even  worse  than  that  of  whis 
key.  The  indictment  they  with  one  accord  present 
against  beer  drinking  is  simply  terrible. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  317 

The  devilfish  crushing  a  man  in  his  long,  winding 
arms,  and  sucking  his  blood  from  his  mangled  body,  is 
not  so  frightful  an  assailant  as  this  deadly  but  insidious 
enemy,  which  fastens  itself  upon  its  victim,  and  daily 
becomes  more  and  more  the  wretched  man's  master, 
and  finally  dragging  him  to  his  grave  at  a  time  when 
other  men  are  in  their  prime  of  mental  and  bodily 
vigor. 

BEER  KILLS  QUICKER  THAN  OTHER  LIQUORS. 

Dr.  S.  H.  Burgeon,  a  practitioner  thirty-five  years, 
twenty-eight  in  Toledo,  says :  "I  think  beer  kills  quick 
er  than  any  other  liquor.  My  attention  was  first  called 
to  its  insidious  effects,  when  I  began  examining  for 
life  insurance.  I  passed  as  unusually  good  risks  five 
Germans — young  business  men — who  seemed  in  the 
best  health,  and  to  have  superb  constitutions.  In  a 
few  years  I  was  amazed  to  see  the  whole  five  drop 
off,  one  after  another,  with  what  ought  to  have  been 
mild  and  easily  curable  diseases.  On  comparing  my 
experience  with  that  of  other  physicians  I  found  they 
were  all  having  similar  luck  with  confirmed  beer 
drinkers,  and  my  practice  since  has  heaped  confirma 
tion  on  confirmation. 

"The  first  organ  to  be  attacked  is  the  kidneys;  the 
liver  soon  sympathizes,  and  then  comes,  most  frequent 
ly,  dropsy  or  Bright's  disease,  both  certain  to  end  fatal 
ly.  Any  physician,  who  cares  to  take  the  time,  will 
tell  you  that  among  the  dreadful  results  of  beer  drink 
ing  are  lockjaw  and  erysipelas,  and  that  the  beer 
drinker  seems  incapable  of  recovering  from  mild  dis 
orders  and  injuries  not  usually  regarded  of  a  grave 


318  THE   USE  AND   NEED   OF 

character.  Pneumonia,  pleurisy,  fevers,  etc.,  seem  to 
have  a  first  mortgage  on  him,  which  they  foreclose  re 
morselessly  at  an  early  opportunity. 

BEER    WORSE   THAN    WHISKEY. 

"The  beer  drinker  is  much  worse  off  than  the  whis 
key  drinker,  who  seems  to  have  more  elasticity  and 
reserve  power.  He  will  even  have  delirium  tremens ; 
but  after  the  fit  is  gone  you  will  sometimes  find  good 
material  to  work  upon.  Good  management  may  bring 
him  around  all  right.  But  when  a  beer  drinker  gets 
into  trouble  it  seems  almost  as  if  you  have  to  recreate 
the  man  before  you  can  do  anything  for  him.  I  have 
talked  this  for  years,  and  have  had  abundance  of  liv 
ing  and  dead  instances  around  me  to  support  my  opin- 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

MOVED  TO  OKLAHOMA. PUBLISHERS    OF  THE    "HOME 

DEFENDER"  OBTAINING    MONEY    UNDER   FALSE    PRE 
TENSES. MY  ARREST  IN  HOT  SPRINGS,  ARK. ARREST 

IN    DENVER. ONE    OF   THE   DEEPEST    SORROWS    OF    MY- 

LIFE. 

In  the  spring  of  1905,  I  moved  to  Oklahoma  to  help 
that  struggling  state  to  deliver  herself  from  the  clutch 
es  of  the  Roosevelt  administration  that  was  determined 
not  to  allow  her  to  have  the  enabling  act  that  would 
give  her  the  power  to  make  her  own  constitution  and 
elect  her  own  governing  power  as  a  state.  Mr.  Roose 
velt  and  Mr.  Taft  took  their  turns  with  their  rough- 
riders  and  other  appointed  officers  to  bring  about  the 
"stand  pat"  and  "let  us  appoint  your  officers."  This 
was  in  the  main  because  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  his  crowd 
knew  that  when  Oklahoma  got  statehood  she  would 
abolish  the  saloons.  I  began  to  publish  my  magazine, 
"The  Hatchet,"  which  I  started  in  Guthrie,  the  Capital. 
This  was  a  great  expense  to  me  as  anyone  who  pub 
lishes  a  periodical  knows.  I  was  not  wise  or  exper 
ienced  in  starting  a  paper.  I  would  publish  as  many 
as  nfteen  thousand,  costing  me  as  much  as  $200.00  a 
month,  and  send  them  over  the  state  far  and  near  call 
ing  to  the  people  to  rouse  themselves  and  demand 
statehood,  even  if  they  had  to  call  a  convention  with 
out  the  enabling  act.  I  went  from  town  to  town,  and 
I  would  speak  from  the  middle  of  the  street,  from 
goods  boxes,  and  in  the  school  houses,  in  churches,  in 


320  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

opera  houses  and  everywhere  I  could  get  a  crowd,  cry 
ing  aloud  at  such  an  outrage  to  so  great  and  populous 
a  state  as  Oklahoma.  The  people  sent  one  delegation 
after  another  to  Washington.  The  pressure  was  so 
strong  that  after  a  while  she  was  granted  the  enabling 
act,  and  when  the  constitution  was  framed  the  saloons 
went  out  of  the  state.  Glory  to  God. 

There  was  started  in  Chicago  in  1895,  a  paper  called 
"The  Home  Defender,"  edited  and  published  by  three 
young  boys  who  were  prohibitionists.  I  took  great  in 
terest  in  the  efforts  of  these  boys  and  bought  stock 
from  them,  and  would  often  write  to  encourage  them. 
In  the  spring  of  1905,  Thorwald  Mauritzen,  one  of 
these  boys  came  to  see  me  in  Oklahoma  and  said  the 
paper  was  sadly  behind.  They  could  not  get  out  the 
March  issue  without  funds  and  that  he  came  to  me  to 
ask  me  to  assist  him,  saying  that  if  he  got  out  this  issue 
he  could  get  $300.00  worth  of  advertising,  that  he  had 
thirty  thousand  subscribers  and  that  if  I  could  let  him 
have  fifteen  hundred  dollars  it  would  put  the  paper 
on  a  good  basis.  I  let  this  young  man  have  the  money, 
this  made  in  all  about  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  I 
had  invested  in  this  paper.  I  had  just  sold  the  prop 
erty  in  Topeka  that  I  wanted  to  deed  to  the  W.  C.  T. 
U.,  but  they  did  not  see  clearly  to  use  it  entirely  for 
prohibition  as  I  wanted  them  to.  This  young  man  re 
turned  to  Chicago  and  the  next  letter  I  got  from  him 
he  told  me  that  the  "Home  Defender"  was  going  to 
send  him  over  to  England  on  business  for  the  paper. 
Three  or  four  days  after  that  I  got  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Coon  and  Mr.  Murry,  men  connected  with  the  "Home 
Defender,"  asking  me  to  write  or  wire  to  New  York 

20 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  321 

City,  giving  me  the  address,  to  prevent  Thorwald 
Mauritzen  from  going  abroad,  that  the  interest  of  the 
paper  demanded  that  he  should  return.  I  wrote  the 
letter,  Mr.  Mauritzen  got  it,  but  it  did  not  stop  him. 
I  went  to  Chicago  to  investigate  matters  and  found 
that  the  paper  was  about  to  go  to  pieces,  and  that  the 
money  that  I  let  them  have  was  all  gone.  I  never  did 
find  out  what  they  did  with  it.  The  fact  was  Mr. 
Mauritzen  went  to  Norway  on  business  of  his  own 
and  had  used  my  money  to  pay  his  expenses.  Mr. 
Coon  and  Mr.  Murry  were  ministers  of  the  Gospel. 
Mr.  Coon  is  now  publishing  a  prominent  Baptist  Jour 
nal  in  Chicago.  I  have  never  met  two  men  that  acted 
more  like  sharpers  and  I  pronounce  both  of  them  hypo 
crites.  Jesus  calls  them  "wolves  in  sheeps  clothing." 
The  advertising  list  was  all  they  had,  they  sold  it  out 
to  Mr.  Blake,  who  knew  that  I  had  stock  in  the  paper 
but  did  not  know  that  I  had  a  $1,300.00  note  against 
the  "Home  Defender".  When  he  found  that  out  he 
made  Mr.  Coon,  Mr.  Murry  and  Mr.  Mauritzen  each 
one  give  him  a  note  covering  the  amount.  I  wrote  to 
Mr.  Alonzo  Wilson,  and  Mr.  Chas.  Jones  about  the 
matter,  the  latter  gave  me  the  name  of  a  lawyer  in 
Chicago.  This  lawyer  could  give  me  no  satisfaction. 
I  did  not  know  for  two  years  that  Mr.  Blake  held  these 
notes  of  these  men  until  after  Mr.  Ferguson  got  the 
"Home  Defender"  and  started  another  prohibition 
paper  in  Chicago.  He  has  written  me  to  come  to  Chi 
cago  to  see  about  the  matter.  I  cannot  tell  what  the 
result  will  be,  but  I  want  to  tell  my  readers  that  I  have 
used  my  means  as  far  as  possible  to  further  prohibi 
tion.  Mr.  Mauritzen  and  Mr.  Coon  both  went  into  the 


322  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

newspaper  business  after  selling  the  "Home  Defender" 
but  they  had  no  money  to  pay  me.  I  gave  one  hun 
dred  dollars  to  Mr.  Laycock  of  the  "Search  Light," 
Litchfield,  Illinois.  I  have  always  contributed  to  the 
"New  Voice/'  until  it  fell  through,  and  have  always 
given  to  the  National  Prohibition  work  until  I  found 
out  Mr.  Jones  was  a  Mason,  and  I  can  "have  no  fel 
lowship  with  the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness,  but 
rather  reprove  them."  I  can  count  perils  among  false 
brethren  as  well  as  Paul.  Every  dollar  of  money  that 
I  have  belongs  to  God.  Alas,  I  have  been  so  unfort 
unate  as  not  to  use  it  as  wisely  as  I  ought.  I  have 
been  laying  up  some  now  to  take  care  of  my  poor 
afflicted  child,  who  is  thrown  entirely  upon  me  for 
support,  for  there  is  nothing  but  her  mother's  care  that 
will  keep  her  from  the  insane  asylum,  for  her  husband 
has  written  me  that  he  will  send  her  there  at  my  death. 
I  have  purchased  some  real-estate  in  Oklahoma  which 
now  rents  for  about  thirty-five  dollars  a  month,  her 
board  at  the  Sanitarium  is  fifty  dollars  besides  other 
expenses.  The  public  asylum  would  be  cheaper,  but 
she  has  a  horror  of  going  to  one  and  she  never  shall 
if  I  can  prevent  it. 

ARREST  IN  DENVER  AND   HOT  SPRINGS. 

In  the  winter  of  1907,  I  was  in  Hot  Springs,  Ar 
kansas,  and  I  lectured  and  went  in  the  gambling  dens 
and  other  disreputable  houses.  I  was  arrested,  drag 
ged  to  jail  by  a  miserable,  cruel  policeman.  I  was  put 
in  the  cell  with  three  desolate  looking,  cigarette  smok 
ing  magdalenes.  I  fell  on  my  knees  at  the  sight  of 
these  haggard  creatures  of  despair.  I  was  still  pray- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  323 

ing  when  the  door  was  opened  and  I  was  brought  be 
fore  the  chief  of  police,  who  seemed  to  be  a  nice  man. 
I  was  released  and  the  mayor  wrote  me  a  note  saying 
that  if  I  would  attend  the  sale  of  lots  the  next  day,  he 
would  send  a  carriage  for  me  and  give  me  $50.00  for 
a  fifteen  minutes  talk.  Of  course  I  accepted  this  and 
he  gave  me  $50.00  and  I  sold  $60.00  worth  of  hatchets 
to  the  crowd.  "When  a  man's  way  pleases  the  Lord, 
he  maketh  even  his  enemies  to  be  at  peace  with  him." 
(Prov.  16:7.) 

In  August,  1906,  I  was  in  Denver  lecturing.  I  heard 
of  the  disgraceful  condition  of  this  city,  of  the  vice 
and  the  liquor  and  prostitution.  There  was  one  street 
especially,  called  Market  street  where  there  was  open 
and  flagrant  vice  of  the  blackest  character.  I  went 
down  this  street  one  evening  to  see  these  poor  degrad 
ed  people,  such  as  Isaiah  tells  about  (4:2:22.)  "But 
this  is  a  people  robbed  and  spoiled ;  they  are  all  of  them 
snared  in  holes,  and  they  are  hid  in  prison-houses :  they 
are  for  a  prey  and  none  delivereth ;  for  a  spoil,  and 
none  saith  restore."  It  was  mentioned  in  the  paper 
that  I  would  visit  this  street,  and  the  crowds  were 
there  by  the  hundreds.  There  were  people  there  of 
all  classes,  the  high  and  the  low,  the  Salvation  Army, 
the  gambler,  the  drunkard,  the  half  dressed  harlot,  the 
butcher,  the  baker  and  the  candlestick  maker,  all  eager 
ly  listening  for  something.  I  watched  that  surging 
throng  and  a  great  pity  came  into  my  heart.  "O,  Jeru 
salem,  how  oft  would  I  have  gathered  you  as  a  hen 
gathers  her  brood  under  her  wings."  (Matt.  23  :37.)  I 
went  through  one  of  these  houses  and  began  talking 
to  these  poor  sisters  of  mine.  Some  officers  hurried 


324  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

up  to  me  and  said:  "You  must  get  out  of  here." 
Others  were  free  to  go  there  for  a  bad  purpose,  I  was 
arrested,  for  going  there  for  a  good  one.  The  black 
maria  was  with  difficulty  driven  through  the  crowd.  I 
was  put  in  to  be  taken  to  the  prison.  On  the  way,  one 
of  these  livery  coated  police,  whom  I  have  often  com 
pared  to  dogs  barking  for  vice,  said  to  me:  "Some  of 
these  days  you  will  get  into  jail  and  never  get  out." 
I  answered ;  "Some  of  these  days,  you  will  get  into  hell 
and  never  get  out."  Right  here  I  want  to  say  there  are 
many  true  men  on  the  police  force.  Their  life  is  a 
hard  one,  always  mixed  up  with  crime,  crime.  Paul 
said :  "Be  not  deceived,  evil  communications  corrupt 
good  manners."  I  Cor.  15:33.)  A  reporter  came  to 
my  cell  that  night  and  said:  "Mrs.  Nation,  I  expect 
this  will  go  pretty  hard  with  you,  they  have  brought 
a  state  case  against  you,  they  have  sworn  out  a  com 
plaint  that  you  were  raising  a  riot."  I  felt  no  con 
cern  about  this,  God  had  said  he  would  ''stand  by  me." 
In  that  jail  there  was  a  cruel  jailer.  One  poor  man 
had  his  head  all  cut  up  from  having  this  jailer  throw 
keys  at  him.  He  cursed  some  prisoners  after  I  got 
there  and  I  called  out,  "What  do  you  mean  by  cursing 
these  prisoners,  if  I  hear  that  repeated,  I  will  make 
complaint  to  the  authorities,  you  are  hired  here  to 
serve  and  wait  on  these  prisoners  and  treat  them 
mercifully."  He  growled  something  and  I  heard  no 
more  cursing. 

The  next  morning  I  was  brought  before  the  mayor 
and  chief  of  police.  I  found  that  some  one  was  there 
to  bail  me  out  so  I  could  give  my  afternoon  lecture. 
This  was  an  old  judge  that  had  stopped  at  the  same 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION. 

hotel  I  had.  The  mayor  said:  "Mrs.  Nation  we  are 
not  going  to  allow  you  to  come  to  our  city  and  turn 
things  up-side-down  as  you  have  in  other  places,  the 
whole  city  was  in  an  uproar  last  night."  I  replied: 
"What  for."  He  said:  "Because  you  started  out  to 
raise  a  disturbance."  I  said :  "Now,  Mr.  Speer,  I  went 
down  there  on  Market  street  where  those  poor  moth 
ers'  girls  are,  they  have  had  nobody  to  go  down  there 
to  tell  them  of  their  lost  condition.  Suppose  your  two 
girls  were  down  there,  would  you  think  anybody  was 
raising  a  disturbance  if  some  gray-haired  grandmother 
was  to  go  down  there  and  try  to  get  them  to  leave  that 
awful  life  of  death  and  misery?"  Mr  Speer  said: 
"These  things  have  to  be,  we  have  to  have  segregated 
vice."  I  said:  "Now  I  do  not  believe  these  things 
have  to  be ;  I  know  they  do  not  have  to  be,  if  you  think 
this,  is  it  not  right  to  give  your  own  daughters  ?  Some 
body's  daughters  have  to  be  given."  I  could  see  that 
this  man  had  a  heart,  that  he  was  moved,  and  perplex 
ed.  I  said:  "Mr.  Speer,  why  don't  you  do  like  the 
mayor  in  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas.  I  was  arrested 
there  for  almost  the  same  thing,  the  mayor  told  the 
police  to  tell  me  to  go  to  my  hotel  if  the  crowd  got  too 
large.  He  had  me  released."  Mr.  Speer  called  the 
chief,  and  said:  "Captain,  let  this  woman  go,  tear  up 
that  bond."  And  I  saw  tears  in  his  eyes  when  he  said 
this.  What  became  of  the  officers'  oath  that  I  was  in 
citing  a  riot? 

I  have  spoken  before  of  my  dear  and  only  child, 
married  to  A.  D.  McNabb  of  Richmond,  Texas,  and  in 
the  course  of  fifteen  years  she  was  the  mother  of  eight 
children.  This  was  a  severe  tax  on  this  nervous,  weak 


326  THE   USE  AND    NEED   OF 

woman  who  was  not  blest  in  being  well  born,  for 
neither  father  nor  mother  were  in  a  condition  to  be 
such  when  she  was  born.  Begotten  by  a  drunken 
father,  conceived  by  a  heart  broken  mother,  who  had 
never  been  taught  that  she  could  curse  her  own  off 
spring  before  it  was  born,  neither  did  she  understand 
the  holy  mission  of  motherhood  and  how  above  every 
thing  else  it  should  be  guarded  by  the  tenderest  care, 
especially  by  the  mother  herself.  Oh !  the  untold  sor 
row  that  ignorance  entails.  "The  people  go  wrong 
more  from  lack  of  thought  than  from  lack  of  heart." 
This  mother  child  of  mine  became  a  wreck.  Every 
time  I  made  a  visit,  I  saw  there  would  be  a  crisis,  and 
it  came.  In  the  fall  of  1905.  I  got  a  letter  from  her 
husband,  saying  that  Charlien  had  been  judged  in 
sane,  and  she  was  then  in  the  sanitarium  in  San  An 
tonio,  Texas,  until  a  place  could  be  made  for  her  in 
the  asylum  in  Austin,  and  that  he,  (her  husband,) 
would  put  her  there  as  soon  as  he  could.  I  could  not 
go  to  Texas  at  that  time,  was  in  the  East  filling  dates. 
I  wrote  that  I  would  pay  her  expenses  in  the  sanitar 
ium,  and  that  I  would  come  as  soon  as  possible.  When 
I  went  there  I  saw  she  was  not  a  subject  for  the  insane 
asylum.  I  telephoned  her  husband  at  Richmond  and 
said  to  him,  I  want  my  child,  let  me  take  her  I  will  be 
responsible.  He  refused  to  let  me  take  her.  I  was 
paying  over  $25.00  a  week  and  I  was  powerless  to 
take  her  away.  I  called  him  up  again  and  said,  I  will 
not  pay  her  expenses  here  any  longer.  He  called  up 
Dr.  Moody  and  told  him  to  take  her  to  the  asylum  at 
Austin,  I  went  with  her  there.  Dr.  Worsham,  the 
superintendent  told  me  that  it  was  no  place  for  my 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  327 

child,  but  that  her  husband  had  forbidden  him  to  let 
me  have  her,  and  that  he  did  not  dare  let  me  take  her, 
but  he  advised  me  to  let  her  stay  there  awhile  then  I 
could  place  her  in  a  boarding  house  in  the  city  and  if 
she  could  stay  there  a  month  then  I  could  come  and 
take  my  child  away.  I  did  this  and  got  my  child  in 
my  own  possession  and  she  came  by  herself  to  Okla 
homa,  where  I  boarded  her  with  a  relative.  Then  I 
took  her  to  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas,  for  a -while  and 
when  I  moved  to  Washington,  I  took  her  with  me. 
My  poor  child  was  a  great  sorrow  and  care.  She  need 
ed  constant  attention  and  she  had  a  great  craving  for 
stimulents  which  I  had  to  guard  her  against,  she 
seemed  to  have  no  control  over  herself.  For  many 
reasons  I  saw  it  was  not  safe  to  leave  her  alone  so  I 
took  her  to  Dr.  Richard  Gundy's  Sanitarium  near 
Baltimore,  only  thirty  miles  from  Washington  where 
T  can  visit  her  often.  God  has  been  good  enough  to 
give  me  the  means  to  keep  her  there  thus  far  and  I 
am  now  making  provision  so  that  after  my  death  she 
Avill  never  have  to  go  to  an  insane  asylum.  I  have 
taken  her  to  see  her  children  twice  in  the  meantime 
and  had  her  two  oldest  daughters  come  to  see  her. 
This  has  been  a  great  expense  to  me  but  it  is  a  consola 
tion  to  care  for  this  precious  child  of  mine,  a  result 
of  my  ignorance  and  sin  in  allowing  a  drunkard  to  be 
her  father,  besides  being  about  as  unfit  to  be  a  mother 
as  he  was  a  father.  I  have  drunk  this  bitter  cup  to 
the  dregs.  Oh,  may  this  life  history  of  mine  be  a 
light-house  that  will  keep  many  from  the  breakers ! 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

WASHINGTON. — SPEAKING     IN      CONVENTION       HALL. 

PICTURE  OF  THE    HOME   GIVEN    ME   BY   MR.    DON   SAN- 
FORD. WASHINGTON    LAWLESSNESS. ARRESTED    AND 

FINED. CONFINED  IN  WORK  HOUSE. PROVIDENTIAL 
LY  RELEASED. 

In  the  fall  of  1906  I  felt  a  call  to  go  to  Washington, 
I  did  not  know  exactly  what  it  was  for,  only  it  was 
Washington,  Washington  on  to  Washington.  I  lec 
tured  on  the  way  in  the  large  cities,  got  several  tele 
grams  to  come  to  Atlanta,  Ga.  I  was  very  anxious  to 
do  this  but  it  seems  as  if  something  said  you  must  go 
to  Washington.  My  last  telegram  sent  to  Atlanta  to 
Joe  D.  Glass  of  the  Eldorado  Theatre  who  offered 
me  $500.00  for  one  week  was  this,  "The  Holy 
Ghost  leads  on  to  Washington  and  to  Washington  I 
am  going."  I  lectured  at  Knoxsville,  Tennessee,  the 
mothers  said  to  me:  "What  can  we  do  to  help  close 
the  saloons."  I  answered:  "One  thing,  you  can  do, 
keep  the  children  home  from  school  on  election  day 
and  take  them  down  on  the  street,  stay  there  all  day; 
pin  a  motto  on  them  saying,  "vote  for  me."  And  this 
they  did,  they  took  their  dinners  and  their  children  and 
also  their  banners  saying,  "Vote  for  mamma  and  me." 
They  played  and  sang,  the  men  seeing  their  wives  and 
children  could  not  help  but  ask  themselves,  shall  I  vote 
for  them  or  for  the  saloons.  Of  course  the  women  and 
children  were  a  more  powerful  argument  than  any 
thing  the  saloon  keeper  could  do  or  say.  That  city 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  329 

went  two-thousand  Prohibition,  forty  saloons  were 
closed.  How  true  it  is,  "That  the  seed  of  the  woman 
shall  bruise  the  serpents  head/'  (Gen.  3.) 

I  got  to  Washington  at  holiday  time.  There  are 
a  great  many  missions  in  the  city  and  good  con 
secrated  workers,  many  of  these  came  to  me,  and 
asked  me  what  they  could  do  to  assist  me.  I  said,  get 
a  place  for  me  to  speak  in.  The  missions  were  small, 
some  of  them  closed  against  me.  I  tried  to  hire  a  hall, 
at  last  Brother  Little,  of  the  Gospel  Army  said :  "There 
is  but  one  chance  and  that  is,  Convention  Hall,  which 
is  $150.00  a  day.  I  said  this  is  out  of  the  question,  I 
had  then  less  than  $175.00  in  cash.  I  waited  four 
days,  praying  and  fasting,  feeling  very  miserable  and 
depressed.  Oh,  what  a  load  was  over  me,  at  last  I 
called  Brother  Little  and  said,  take  this  $150.00  and  se 
cure  Convention  Hall,  but  do  not  tell  them  who  wants 
it  until  after  you  get  the  contract.  I  feared  I  would 
be  refused  it  also.  I  then  got  some  small  cards,  the 
size  of  a  business  card  saying: 

"I  speak  at  Convention  Hall  next  Sunday,  at  3:30 
to  men  only;  also  at  night  at  7:30  to  everybody,  you 
are  cordialy  invited.  Your  loving  'Home  Defender/ 
CARRY  A.  NATION." 

These  dear,  good  friends  of  mine  scattered  these 
little  cards  in  restaurants,  department  stores,  saloons 
and  hotels.  Sunday  afternoon  I  had  perhaps  eight 
hundred  men  present,  but  at  night  the  place  was  almost 
full,  it  seats  about  seven  thousand  people.  I  took  col 
lections.  At  night  when  it  was  counted,  we  found  that 
the  collections  paid  for  the  hall  and  all  the  other  ex 
penses,  and  a  donation  of  $30.00  was  given  me  at  the 


330  THE   USE   AND    NEED  OF 

close.  I  now  saw  the  reason  why  I  could  not  get  a 
smaller  hall,  God  intended  that  I  should  come  before 
that  crowd.  The  very  idea  of  a  woman  coming  to 
Washington  City,  hiring  Convention  Hall  and  giving 
free  lectures,  attracted  the  people.  "Oh,  the  depth 
of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge 
of  God,  how  unsearchable  are  His  judgments,  and  His 
ways  past  finding  out."  I  had  with  me  at  that  meeting 
a  whiskey  flask  that  had  been  sent  me  from  Chicago 
by  a  friend,  with  Mr.  Roosevelt's  picture  on  it.  I  held 
it  up  before  that  vast  audience  in  Washington  and 
said :  "Here  is  a  whiskey  flask  with  Theodore  Roose 
velt's  picture  on  it,  the  most  appropriate  place  I  have 
ever  seen  it  in,  in  my  life."  There  was  a  ripple  of" 
laughter,  but  no  hisses  as  I  had  expected.  I  find  that 
Mr.  Roosevelt  is  most  popular  where  he  is  least  known. 
Judge  Webber,  the  congressman  from  Elyria,  Ohio, 
was  at  the  meeting.  He  came  to  the  stand  after  the 
lecture  was  over  and  said :  "I  want  to  call  to  see  you." 
I  told  him  where  I  was  stopping.  Next  morning  he 
and  his  wife  called,  he  gave  me  $5.00  for  my  work. 
This  Mr.  Webber  is  the  congressman  who  introduced 
the  bill  into  Congress  to  prohibit  saloons  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia.  He  said :  "Carry  Nation  you  are 
right  and  you  will  win."  After  this  I  held  several 
meetings  in  different  places  in  the  District.  I  was  also 
invited  to  speak  to  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  their  quarters, 
although  when  I  first  went  there  a  reporter  interview 
ed  the  district  president,  and  she  said  she  did  not 
think  Carry  Nation  would  be  invited  to  speak  at  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  meeting.  She  is  now  one  of  my  best 
friends  and  has  asked  me  to  speak  at  several  places  in 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION. 


331 


MR.  DON  SANFORD  GAVE  ME  THE  FREE  USE  OF  THIS  HOME  IN 
JYHICH  I  PUBLISHED  "THE  HATCHET"  AT  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.  I 
AM  STANDING  TO  THE  RIGHT,  TWO  FRIENDS  IN  THE  BACK,  AND 
MR.  DON  SANFORD  AND  WIFE  ARE  TO  THE  LEFT,  THE  PARTIES  WHO 
HAVE  OF  ALL  OTHERS  GIVEN  ME  THE  GREATEST  MATERIAL  ASSIST 
ANCE.  THE  TIME  WILL  COME  "THAT  BOTH  HE  THAT  SOWETH 
AND  HE  THAT  REAPETH  MAY  REJOICE  TOGETHER."  J ' okn  4:36. 


332  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

the  district.  At  one  of  these  meetings  a  man  walked 
up  to  the  front  leaning  on  a  cane.  He  was  about  sixty 
years  old  with  a  good  kind  face.  He  said  to  me  in  an 
undertone:  "If  I  had  known  where  you  were  when 
they  first  put  you  in  jail,  I  would  have  sent  you  $50.00, 
for  the  smashing  in  Kansas  was  the  greatest  move  ever 
made  against  the  liquor  traffic."  I  replied:  "It  is  not 
too  late  to  help  me  yet."  He  rode  home  with  me  on 
the  cars  and  said:  "I  will  see  you  in  the  morning." 
Sure  enough  he  took  me  down  to  217  D.  street,  showed 
me  a  furnished  flat  and  said:  "I  will  give  you  this  for 
a  home  for  five  years,  free  of  rent."  This  was  in  an 
swer  to  my  prayers,  many  had  said  to  me:  "Come  to 
Washington  and  publish  your  magazine  here."  I  said 
I  cannot  see  how  I  can  do  that,  unless  God  will  open 
the  way,  and  he  did  this.  This  man's  name  is  Mr.  Don 
Sanford,  Washington,  D.  C. 

This  God-given  home  has  been  a  haven  of  rest  to 
me,  I  have  an  office,  two  bedrooms,  a  dining  room  and 
a  kitchen,  besides  other  conveniences.  This  is  the 
greatest  help  that  I  have  ever  had  from  any  source. 
He  gave  this  to  me  because  he  is  a  thorough  sym 
pathizer  with  the  prohibition  movement,  and  did  it  for 
the  cause.  I  want  all  the  prohibitionists  to  know  this 
and  ask  God  to  bless  this  man. 

So  I  moved  the  "Hatchet"  to  Washington,  the  head 
of  the  Nation.  We  have  been  cutting  off  the  tail  of 
the  serpent  long  enough.  It  would  be  foolish  to  try 
to  kill  a  serpent  by  cutting  off  its  tail,  we  must  smash 
the  viper  on  the  head.  It  is  in  Washington  City.  We 
have  been  cutting  off  the  tail  by  making  the  counties 
and  states  for  prohibition.  On  to  Washington,  must 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  333 

be  the  cry,  and  when  the  people  demand  of  their  repre 
sentatives  in  Washington  that  they  cancel  the  licenses, 
which  can  be  done  at  any  Congress.  It  was  first  li 
censed  there,  there  is  where  the  mischief  began,  there 
is  where  the  mischief  continues,  and  there  is  where 
the  mischief  must  be  stopped. 

SEEN  IN  THE  CAPITAL  OF  AMERICA. 

The  most  prominent  thing  that  I  see  on  the  streets 
of  the  city,  is  an  advertisement  of  Anheuser  Busch, 
every  night  it  flames  out  streaks  of  blood  and  fire.  One 
can  imagine  the  fires  of  hell  and  the  blood  of  the  slain. 

There  are  five  hundred  and  twenty  bar-rooms;  one 
hundred  and  forty  wholesale  liquor  houses,  besides 
hundreds  of  houses  of  prostitution  that  are  unlicensed, 
where  liquor  is  sold.  These  harlot  houses  are  in  a  part 
of  the  city,  from  the  postoffice  and  White  House 
grounds  about  six  blocks.  "Hooker's  Division,"  be 
cause  Gen.  Hooker  camped  there  once  upon  a  time. 
This  Division  is  devoted  to  the  harlots  and  harlot  mak 
ers,  these  women  are  not  considered  criminals,  and  do 
not  pay  any  fines. 

We  went  down  in  this  division  and  saw  girls  with 
short  dresses  on,  and  boys  with  knee  pants.  These 
facts  will  give  cause  of  alarm  to  all  decent  people  hear 
ing  of  them. 

President  Roosevelt  with  three  commissioners  has 
power  to  close  up  all  vice  in  this  city.  H.  B.  F.  Mc- 
Farland  is  Chairman,  this  man  belongs  to  the  Endea 
vor  Society,  and  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  a  teacher  of  a  Bible 
class  in  the  Congregational  church. 

We  attended  some  of  the  Sunday  Theatres  there  the 


33-i  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

five  and  ten  cent,  kind,  with  moving  pictures.  The  pic 
tures  shown  were  most  of  gambling  and  drinking,  sui 
cide  and  holdups.  Hundreds  of  little  boys  from  seven 
years  old  and  up  attend  these  shows.  Christian  work 
ers  are  restricted  in  their  work  on  the  streets,  to  cer 
tain  hours,  certain  places  and  certain  days ;  but  the 
harlots  and  indecent  shows  can  run  all  day  and  night, 
Sunday  or  any  other  day. 

I  never  saw  so  much  tobacco  and  cigarette  poison 
ing  among  men  and  boys  as  here.    The  Capital  is  reek 
ing  with  it. 

MY  ATTEMPT  TO   SEE   MR.    ROOSEVELT. 

Shortly  after  moving  to  Washington  I  took  two 
friends  with  me  and  was  walking  up  to  the  entrance 
to  the  wing  of  the  White  House,  where  I  hoped  to 
have  a  conference  with  Theodore  Roosevelt,  when,  be 
fore  I  got  within  ten  steps  of  the  door,  a  man  hastily 
came  out  and  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  walk  and  said : 
"Mrs.  Nation,  your  business  is  closed  with  this  office." 
I  said:  "Who  told  you  to  tell  me  that?"  "Never  mind," 
he  said.  I  replied :  "I  suppose  that  door  is  closed 
against  me,  a  representative  woman  and  mother.  Any 
thief,  cigarette  fiend,  brewer,  distiller,  or  gambler  can 
gp  in  there,  but  a  representative  of  America's  mothers 
and  homes  is  shut  out.  That  house  does  not  belong 
either  to  Roosevelt  or  to  Loeb.  I  have  some  import 
ant  questions  to  ask  Mr.  Roosevelt.  It  is  common  talk 
that  his  daughter,  Alice,  smokes  cigarettes,  and  we 
American  women,  object  to  being  represented  by  such 
a  character  abroad."  This  door  guard  asked  me  not 
to  make  a  lecture  there.  I  said:  "I  have  free  speech 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  335 

and  shall  express  my  views.  I  am  speaking  the  truth." 
The  man  turned  to  one  of  the  gentlemen  who  was  with 
me,  Gen.  Mobley  of  the  Gospel  Army,  and  said: 
"Please  have  her  go  away."  No  attempt  was  made  to 
arrest  me  as  two  years  before  when  I  was  there.  After 
declaring  it  an  outrage  to  the  American  citizens  that 
the  good  mothers  were  shut  out  I  turned  and  left.  "All 
nations  welcome  except  Carry." 

IN  THE  WORK  HOUSE  IN  WASHINGTON  CITY. 

In  November,  1907,  I  was  standing  on  the  porch  of 
the  postoffice  in  Washington  waiting  for  it  to  stop 
raining.  Because  of  the  rain  some  others  were  stand 
ing  there  who  were  smoking  cigarettes.  I  complained 
of  the  outrage  of  having  to  smell  the  poisonous  breath 
that  they  blew  in  my  face,  for  the  cigarette  fiends  take 
delight  in  being  as  unmanly  as  they  can.  They  came 
as  near  as  they  dared  to  me,  I  would  move  from  one 
side  to  the  other,  telling  them  of  the  injury  to  them 
selves  and  to  me.  A  policeman  passed  by,  one  of  the 
kind  that  is  a  greater  friend  to  indecency  than  to  de 
cency.  He  said  to  me  in  an  insulting  manner :  "Mad 
am,  walk  on."  I  replied:  "I  am  not  going  out  in  this 
rain."  He  said:  "You  are  drawing  a  crowd."  I  re 
plied:  "Disperse  the  crowd.  I  wish  you  would  arrest 
these  men  who  will  not  let  me  draw  a  breath  of  God's 
pure  atmosphere,  I  tried  to  get  away  from  them  but 
they  crowded  around  and  I  am  assaulted,  for  to  blow 
a  dirty  breath  in  anybody's  face  is  an  assault."  He 
said  not  a  word  to  them,  but  grabbed  me  by  the  arm 
and  dragged  me  down  the  steps,  saying:  "I  will  take 
you  to  the  police  station."  He  took  me  across  the 


336  THE   USE  AND  NEED  OF 

street  where  there  was  a  police  station,  and  handed 
me  over  to  the  authorities.  I  said:  "What  am  I  ar 
rested  for  ?"  No  one  answered.  I  asked  this  question 
several  times.  One  said :  "You  will  know  in  the  morn 
ing."  As  usual  I  was  asked  my  name,  residence,  age 
and  occupation.  When  I  was  first  asked  these  ques 
tions  in  Washington,  I  said  my  occupation  was  that  of 
a  servant  of  God.  They  wrote  down  the  word  "ser 
vant."  I  was  not  asked  this  question  again.  I  was 
asked  to  pay  $20.00  collateral.  I  refused,  saying  that, 
"I  have  paid  my  last  fine."  This  collateral  was  to 
allow  me  to  go  home  and  to  appear  if  I  wanted  to,  or 
to  stay  away  if  I  wanted  to.  I  was  taken  to  the  house 
of  detention. 

This  was  the  fourth  time  I  had  been  arrested  in 
Washington  City.  The  first  I  have  related  in  my  book, 
it  was  for  "disturbing  the  Senate,"  as  they  said,  the 
last  three  times  was  for  about  the  same  offense.  I  had 
gone  into  the  saloons  and  told  men  of  their  evil  ways, 
told  them  to  get  out  of  that  business,  they  were 
going  to  hell  and  taking  thousands  of  others  with 
them.  I  was  tried  before  Judge  Maloney,  who  was 
very  abrupt  and  severe,  and  fine  me  $25.00.  Then  I 
was  tried  before  Judge  Kimball,  who  was  very  kind 
and  fined  me  $5.00. 

I  was  taken  before  Judge  Bundy  the  next  morning ; 
I  was  held  in  the  iron  cage  where  the  blacks  and 
whites,  the  cigarette  fiends,  two  morphine  fiends,  two 
men  with  their  heads  bruised  and  cut  for  being  "drunk 
and  disorderly"  were.  I  looked  at  my  fellow  prison 
ers  and  I  could  not  help  but  consider  the  "smasher" 
and  the  "smashed."  What  a  crowd  of  degraded  men 

21 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  337 

and  women  were  by  me.  Oh,  the  curse  and  misery, 
humanity  will  bring  on  themselves  through  drink  and 
other  dopes.  I  always  see  in  the  drunkard  the  moth 
er's  broken  heart,  after  years  of  tender  watchfulness  to 
prevent  harm  to  the  boy.  I  see  her  gray  head  bowed 
with  grief.  These  men  were  mothers'  boys,  and  I  felt 
as  if  I  were  that  mother.  And  these  daughters  that 
had  been  snared  into  these  pits  on  Missouri  avenue, 
and  Hooker's  division,  those  places  in  Washington, 
places  of  rottenness  and  death,  that  Mr.  Roosevelt 
could  close  up  in  a  day,  and  here  were  the  results.  Our 
daughters  that  should  be  "corner  stones,  polished  after 
the  similitude  of  a  palace."  (Ps.  144:12.)  The  officer 
appeared  against  me  and  brought  the  charge  of  being 
disorderly,  the  truth  was  he  had  arrested  the  orderly 
one  and  had  refused  to  arrest  the  disorderly  ones.  I 
find  that  it  is  not  disorderly  to  be  a  prostitute  in  Wash 
ington,  it  is  not  disorderly  to  run  a  saloon  and  make 
drunkards,  but  it  is  disorderly  to  tell  them  of  it. 

Judge  Bundy  was  on  the  bench,  he  was  very  kind 
and  began  by  saying :  "Mrs.  Nation  you  are  very  much 
opposed  to  smoking,  I  am  myself,  but  we  have  an  or 
dinance  in  the  city  that  allows  men  to  smoke  in  the 
street  cars  and  on  the  streets  and  other  public  places, 
and  you  must  make  no  objections  to  them  exercising 
this  privilege.  We  know  you  are  a  good  woman  and 
we  do  not  want  to  get  you  into  trouble,  will  you  sign 
a  bond  that  you  will  not  make  any  more  trouble  of 
this  kind?"  I  said:  "Judge,  I  have  no  lawyer,  I  want 
you  to  allow  me  to  plead  my  own  cause,  I  want  to 
quote  to  you  some  of  the  decisions  of  the  supreme 
court,  will  you  let  me  read  them  ?"  Judge  said,  "yes."  I 


338  THE   USE   AND   NEED   OF 

had  my  Bible  under  my  cape,  I  drew  it  out  and  said: 
"Judge  you  know  that  most  of  the  criminals  that  come 
here  are  addicted  to  smoking  cigarettes,  you  know  it  is 
an  awful  sin.  Now  I  want  to  be  a  real  Christian,  I 
want  to  do  what  God  tells  me  to  do.  You  are  a  Chris 
tian,  don't  you  think,  I  ought  to  obey  God  ?  God  com 
mands  me  to  'cry  aloud  and  spare  not,  and  show  My 
people  their  sins.'  'Lift  up  thy  voice  like  a  trumpet.' 
(Isa.  58:1.)  You  see  here  I  am  commanded  to  cry 
aloud  about  sin  and  not  to  whisper  about  it.  Also  in 
Ezekiel,  third  chapter  and  18th  verse;  "When  I  say 
unto  the  wicked,  Thou  shalt  surely  die;  and  thou  giv- 
est  him  not  warning,  nor  speakest  to  warn  the  wicked 
from  his  wicked  way,  to  save  his  life ;  the  same  wicked 
man  shall  die  in  his  iniquity;  but  his  blood  will  I  re 
quire  at  thine  hand."  19th  verse,  "Yet  if  thou  warn 
the  wicked,  and  he  turn  not  from  his  wickedness,  nor 
from  his  wicked  way,  he  shall  die  in  his  iniquity ;  but 
thou  hast  delivered  thy  soul.'  So  you  see  this  com 
pels  me  to  warn,  rebuke  and  exhort.  How  can  I  save 
my  soul  and  keep  quiet  about  this  sin  ?  God  says :  'Go 
and  declare  unto  this  people  whether  they  will  hear  or 
whether  they  will  forbear.'  (Isa.  2:7.)  How  can  you 
punish  me  for  obeying  God's  commandments?  You 
have  an  ordinance  in  Washington  that  prevents  me 
from  obeying  the  law  of  God,  if  I  obey  your  law  I 
lose  my  soul,  if  I  obey  God's  law,  I  go  to  jail.  I  had 
rather  go  to  jail  than  to  hell."  Judge  seemed  very 
nervous  and  said :  "Mrs.  Nation  I  haven't  time  to  talk 
with  you  any  longer  but  I  wish  you  would  sign  that 
bond;  we  do  not  want  to  send  you  down  there  among 
the  drunks  and  thieves."  I  said :  "Judge  I  cannot  sign 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  339 

that  bond."  The  City  Attorney  was  a  decided  friend 
of  the  lawless  element  and  said :  "Judge  you  must  fine 
this  woman,  you  cannot  possibly  let  her  escape,  we 
have  been  annoyed  with  her  long  enough  and  she  will 
encourage  a  lot  of  lawlessness."  Judge  said :  "Mrs. 
Nation  I  will  have  to  line  you  $25.00  (this  meant  sev 
enty-five  days  in  jail,  three  days  for  every  dollar,)  I 
said,  very  well  we  will  see  who  will  come  out  best  in 
this  trial.  It  seemed  as  if  God  said  to  me:  "Don't  you 
worry,  you  go  to  the  work-house  for  my  sake."  I  was 
taken  to  the  work-house  with  several  other  women, 
all  of  them  for  the  dope  habit.  The  usual  questions 
were  asked,  name,  residence,  etc.  We  were  taken  to 
a  room  where  we  were  commanded  to  take  off  our 
clothes,  take  a  bath,  and  then  we  were  given  our  work 
house  garments.  The  underwear  was  blue  and  white 
checked  gingham,  very  coarse,  the  outside  garment 
was  a  mother-hubbard  and  of  a  very  heavy  overall 
stuff  with  an  outside  pocket  on  the  right  side.  I  was 
taken  into  the  sewing  room  and  my  work  was  to  patch 
and  mend  and  work  button  holes  in  the  overalls  as  the 
women  did  all  the  sewing  for  the  men  in  the  work 
house.  There  were  then  about  four  hundred  and  fifty 
men  in  their  quarters.  There  were  seventy-nine  col 
ored  women  and  fourteen  white  women  in  their  quar 
ters.  I  resolved  to  make  the  most  that  I  could  out  of 
this  confinement  in  benefitting  my  fellow  prisoners.  I 
comforted  and  encouraged  them,  they  came  to  me  with 
their  woes  and  I  tried  to  bring  consolation  to  them  in 
every  case,  telling  them  of  their  faithful  friend  Jesus. 
Five  of  these  women  took  the  pledge  never  to  drink.  I 
felt  as  if  I  was  at  the  very  place  that  God  wanted  me 


340  THE   USE. AND   NEED  OF 

to  be  and  I  thank  God  for  the  experience.  I  would 
never  have  known  what  it  was  to  be  in  a  work-house, 
had  I  never  been  an  inmate.  When  the  day  came  to 
do  my  scrubbing,  I  got  my  bucket  scrubbing  brush, 
soap  and  cloth  and  got  down  on  my  knees  like  the  rest 
and  did  my  scrubbing  just  as  well  as  any  of  them.  I 
never  allowed  myself  to  murmur  and  complain  at  any 
thing,  I  did  not  feel  like  it  for  my  fellow  prisoners 
were  in  a  worse  position  than  I. 

I  have  no  complaints  to  make  of  my  treatment  or 
that  of  any  of  the  rest  with  but  one  exception,  which 
I  will  speak  of  later  in  this  chapter.  I  had  occasion  to 
depend  largely  on  God.  for  wisdom  to  comfort  these 
poor  people.  Whenever  the  woman  overseer  stepped 
out  of  the  room,  these  women  would  pour  their  real 
or  imaginary  trouble  in  my  ears,  I  would  remind  them 
of  the  cleanness  of  the  place  and  the  refuge  from  the 
cold  weather  and  the  good  food,  and  in  many  ways  I 
know  I  lightened  their  burdens.  I  was  allowed  to  have 
my  Bible  with  me,  I  quoted  scripture  to  them.  My 
fellow  prisoners  seemed  more  like  sisters  to  me,  we 
were  all  companions  in  sorrow. 

Capt.  Zinkham,  the  overseer  of  the  public  poor- 
house  and  work-house  called  to  see  me  several  times, 
and  he  with  the  rest  was  very  kind.  He  said  to  me 
at  one  time :  "Mrs.  Nation,  you  are  trying  to  do  some 
mission  work  here,  I  have  tried  myself,  but  I  find  it 
almost  useless,  these  very  people  have  been  coming 
here  for  years  and  they  will  continue  to  come."  I  said : 
"I  will  tell  you  the  reason  they  will  continue  to  come, 
yesterday  morning  a  basket  of  dope  was  brought 
through  the  work-house  giving  each  one  a  plug  of  vile 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  341 

black  tobacco.  Each  of  these  poor  inmates  took  one 
except  myself,  matches  were  furnished  them  that  they 
might  smoke.  The  only  thing  that  I  can  complain  of 
as  unjust  and  contrary  to  Christianity  in  this  work 
house  is  to  give  away  that  vile  stuff  that  feeds  the  de 
sire  for  dope  and  when  they  leave  here,  that  terrible 
craving  has  not  been  allowed  to  die  and  these  poor, 
nervous,  helpless  slaves  avail  themselves  of  the  first 
opportunity  to  obtain  their  favorite  dopes,  and  Capt. 
Zinkham,  you  are  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  and  you  are 
smelling  of  that  dope  yourself,  do  you  think  this  is 
right?  Did  you  ever  go  before  the  commissioners?'* 
He  said  he  had  never  brought  this  question  up,  well, 
I  said :  "I  am  going  to  do  it ;"  which  I  did  and  also  told 
some  members  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  that  they  ought  to 
investigate  this.  Thousands  of  dollars  are  being  spent 
every  year  to  dope  the  inmates  of  the  work-house  in 
Washington  City.  After  I  had  been  there  five 'days, 
Captain  Zinkham  came  to  my  door  and  said:  "Mrs. 
Nation  were  you  expecting  any  money  from  any 
source?"  I  said,  "No,"  and  he  told  me  there  had  been 
wired  me  $28.00  from  the  Holiness  Association  in 
Evansville,  Indiana.  "Well,"  I  said,  "that  is  for  my 
fine,  you  will  please  collect  it  and  pay  my  fine  and  I 
leave  here  tomorrow."  I  had  stayed  there  just  as  long 
as  God  wanted  me  to  stay.  I  had  seen  what  God  want 
ed  me  to  see.  Three  weeks  from  that  time  I  had  some 
dates  down  in  Kentucky,  and  I  went  to  Evansville, 
Indiana.  Those  holiness  people  arranged  a  meeting 
for  me  in  their  own  hall.  One  man  at  the  close  of  a 
lecture  said :  "Carry  Nation  I  want  to  tell  you  how  we 
came  to  pay  your  fine ;  we  had  a  meeting  here  and  we 


342  THE    USE   AND    NEED  OF 

were  talking  about  prohibition  in  Oklahoma.  One 
man  who  was  a  stranger,  rose  in  the  back  of  the  hall 
and  said :  'Yes  we  have  prohibition  in  Oklahoma  and 
the  one  who  assisted  us  in  getting  prohibition,  is  now 
in  the  work-house  in  Washington  City,  because  she 
would  not  pay  a  fine  of  $25.00.'  Instantly  a  man 
jumped  up  and  said:  'Here  is  a  dollar  to  help  pay  her 
fine.'  In  three  minutes  $28.00  was  on  the  table.  We 
wired  this  to  you ;  I  never  saw  anything  that  was  more 
providential  than  this,  for  no  one  was  thinking  about 
you  and  your  name  had  not  been  called." 

We  had  a  glorious  meeting,  I  have  never  seen  a  more 
healthy,  vigorous  Holiness  Association  than  is  in 
Evansville,  and  God  used  just  such  a  set  of  people, 
precious  holy  ones,  to  pay  my  fine.  He  says:  "You 
shall  not  stand  before  mean  men  only,  but  you  shall 
stand  before  kings." 

In  the  fall  of  1907  I  got  off  the  train  in  Grand  Cen 
tral  depot,  New  York  City;  a  reporter  met  me  and 
handed  me  this  telegram:  "David  Nation,  husband  of 
Carry  Nation,  died  here  today."  Dated  Medicine 
Lodge,  Kansas.  I  could  hardly  believe  it,  not  having 
heard  he  was  sick,  but  it  was  true.  Sick  only  a  few 
hours,  not  a  relative  near.  Would  to  God  I  had  been 
there  to  do  something  for  him.  Seven  months  before 
that  he  had  gotten  a  divorce  from  me.  Well  I  shall 
meet  him  "at  that  day  when  the  secrets  of  all  hearts 
shall  be  made  manifest."  (I  Cor.  14:25.)  I  had  a  head 
and  foot  stone  put  to  his  grave  which  is  in  the  Med 
icine  Lodge  cemetery  in  Kansas.  I  am  glad  God  is 
our  Judge. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

HOLDING  UP  MY  JULY  ISSUE  OF  THE  HATCHET.       TRIAL 

AND  ARREST  IN  DALLAS.  TEXAS. A  TRIBUTE  FROM  AN 

OLD  CITIZEN  OF  CHATTANOOGA.-- DURHAM  FACTORY  IN 
NORTH  CAROLINA  AND  EDUCATING  METHODIST 
PREACHERS. THE  DEADLY  CIGARETTE. 

In  my  July,  1906,  issue  of  "The  Hatchet,"  I  wrote 
a  letter  to  little  boys  in  which  I  warned  them  against 
the  vices  of  self  abuse  telling  them  the  consequences 
of  such  a  dangerous  practice. 

My  enemies,  who  are  always  on  the  alert,  to  get  me 
in  trouble  made  complaint  to  the  post-office  at  Washing 
ton  and  the  issue  was  held  up.  A  warrant  was  out  for 
my  arrest.  I  was  in  Texas  and  was  notified  to  return  for 
trial,  I  said  I  was  not  after  anybody,  and  the  parties 
that  wanted  me  could  come  after  me.  I  was  in  the 
depot  at  Clebourne,  Texas,  when  a  very  nice  old  gen 
tleman  whispered  to  me,  "I  want  to  speak  to  you  I  am 
a  United  States  marshal.".  I  said :  "I  understand,  and 
am  ready  to  go  with  you."  I  was  never  arrested  in  as 
respectful  and  elegant  manner  as  by  this  Mr.  R.  M. 
Walden  of  Dallas,  Texas. 

Mr.  Walden  told  me  I  could  go  to  Guthrie  or  have 
the  trial  in  Dallas,  I  decided  to  be  tried  in  the  latter,  on 
the  way  we  met  in  the  car  two  gentlemen  who  lived  in 
Dallas,  Col.  S.  E.  Moss  and  B.  M.  Burgher.  These 
men  said  to  me,  "We  will  go  your  bond  so  you  will 
not  have  to  go  to  jail."  We  got  to  Dallas  between 
nine  and  ten  that  night.  They  woke  up  the  United 


344  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

States  Commissioner,  A.  W.  May  arid  the  bond  was 
made  and  I  left  at  seven  next  morning  to  fill  a  date. 
The  trial  was  in  September.  The  witnesses  came  from 
Guthrie,  and  the  case  was  called.  The  United  States 
attorney  after  stating  the  case  said:  "This  article  can 
not  be  called  obscene."  The  dear  old  commissioner, 
his  name  I  forget,  said:  "No,  it  is  not,  it  is  purity  it 
self,  and  there  is  no  case  against  Mrs.  Nation." 

It  cost  me  a  $50.00  lawyer's  fee  and  the  expense  of 
one  witness,  Rev.  Charles  Mitchel,  but  "In  this  world 
ye  shall  have  tribulations,  fear  not,  I  have  overcome 
the  world." 

A    WORD   OR   TWO   FROM    AN     OLD     CITIZEN   OF     CHATTA 
NOOGA,  TENN.,  IN  COMMENDATION  OF  CARRY  NATION. 

To  the  Chattanooga  Times. 

Allow  me  to  make  a  few  remarks  in  the  passing  of 
the  "Hatchet  Woman,"  born  of  conversion  with  our 
citizens. 

Yes,  some  will  say  she  is  too  aggressive ;  that  she 
tmsexes  herself;  that  she  disgraces  motherhood.  And 
I  see  that  some  poor  weak-kneed  clergy  are  rushing 
around  to  tell  God  and  the  newspapers  all  about  what 
a  shame  it  is  for  her  to  be  carrying  on  so,  and  what 
they  would  do  if  she  would  come  into  their  district. 
Of  such  it  has  been  said :  "Because  thou  art  neither 
hot  nor  cold,  I  will  spew  thee  out  of  my  mouth."  (Rev. 
3:16.) 

Now  let  me  call  your  attention  to  the  Maid  of  Or 
leans,  whose  aggressiveness  removed  the  brutal  and 
oppressive  hand  of  England  from  the  body  politic  of 
France.  She  died  a  most  horrible  death  by  the  hands 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  345 

of  human  brutes,  among  whom  were  cowardly  priests. 
But  was  it  in  vain  she  died?  Go  ask  the  lowest  peas 
ant  on  the  vine  clad  hills  of  La  Belle  France. 

Recall,  if  you  will,  Florence  Nightingale  with  her 
little  axe  chopping  down  the  sentry-guarded  doors  of 
hospital  supplies  in  behalf  of  the  wounded  and  dying 
in  the  Crimean  war.  Did  she  unsex  herself?  Go  ask 
the  English  soldiers  as  they  lie  in  the  trenches  or  on 
the  barren  copse  of  Africa  today.. 

See  John  Howard  smothering  in  his  dark,  foul 
prison  pen  from  which  he  escapes  with  loss  of  health. 
Was  he  a  little  too  aggressive  when  he  broke  down  the 
prison  doors  and  exposed  the  horrors  of  the  English 
prison  system  ?  Go  ask  the  criminal  life  of  continental 
Europe  today. 

But  we  need  not  go  away  from  home  in  order  to 
find  those  who  have  died  that  others  might  live.  Our 
own  land  bears  evidence  of  such. 

Was  John  Brown  a  little  too  aggressive  as  he  lay 
mangled  and  bleeding  in  jail,  preparing  for  a  miser 
able  death  on  the  gallows  for  American  slavery.  If 
so  I  ask  you  go  read : 

"A  righteous  sentence  writ  in  burnished  rows  of 
steel."  Go  ask  8,000,000  blacks  in  our  cotton  fields, 
workshops,  schools  and  streets.  Ask  2,000,000  of  our 
brave  boys  in  blue  and  gray  if  they  have  died  in  vain. 
Your  answer  comes  back  in  our  teeming  cities,  in  our 
magnificent  mines  and  the  buzz  and  whirr  of  our 
manufactories  all  over  our  beautiful  southland  where 
only  cotton  and  corn  fields  held  sway. 

They  made  it  possible  for  such  things  to  be.  Such 
as  these  are  inspired  spirits,  called  of  God,  and  he 


346  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

never  makes  mistakes  in  selecting  proper  means  for 
the  grand  work  of  lifting  a  nation  into  higher  and 
happier  conditions.  Everyone  of  these  have  erected 
a  living  monument  to  their  daring  and  suffering  for 
the  cause  of  humanity. 

And  now  a  word  in  behalf  of  this  chosen  woman, 
Mrs.  Carry  Nation.  I  admit  there  must  be  an  awful 
condition  in  any  Christian  community  that  -  requires 
such  a  sacrifice.  The  crashing  of  glass,  the  shouts  of 
jostling  hordes,  the  hurrying  feet  of  the  police  and  one 
woman  with  her  little  hatchet  is  a  horrid  spectacle  for 
the  so-called  highest  civilized  and  Christianized  nation 
to  witness.  But  it  is  a  cowardly,  a  criminal  condition, 
costing  more  lives  an.d  money  than  any  war  or  epi 
demic  of  disease,  one  which  the  state  has  failed  to  deal 
honorably  and  bravely  with ;  one  which  politicians  call 
a  gilded  theory. 

She  may  lose  her  life  in  the  work  of  redemption 
most  cruelly,  as  others  before  her.  She  is  caricatured, 
insulted,  held  up  to  ridicule  most  outrageously  by 
those  whose  brains  are  not  developed  sufficient  to  con 
ceive  they  ever  had  a  mother,  or,  conceiving,  have  any 
knowledge  of  the  holiness  of  motherhood.  But  that 
grand  soul  will  go  marching  on  through  every  city, 
town  and  hamlet  over  our  broad  land  till  all  shall  be 
brought  to  understand,  "That  whatsoever  a  man  sow- 
eth  that  shall  he  also  reap." 

Let  me  assure  you  that  such  grand  spirits  do  not 
stop  to  count  the  cost  of  life  in  their  work  of  uplifting 
suffering  ones  of  earth  life.  Such  only  "hear  the 
voices"  and  are  fully  prepared  for  the  sacrifice. 

Man  will  not  make  the  sacrifice.    He  is  and  ever  has 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  347 

been  a  coward  when  his  pocketbook  and  passions  are 
at  "stake.  Pocketbook  and  passion  beat  justice,  truth 
and  mercy.  Pocketbook  and  passion  beat  the  organ's 
grand  peal  and  the  sweet,  low  dronings  of  the  clergy. 
Yes ;  passion  and  pocketbook  beat  prayers,  tears  and 
coffins.  All,  all  go  down  in  a  perfect  wreck  before  the 
whiskey  monster. 

God  bless,  aye,  He  will  bless  the  woman  who  defies 
recreant  judges,  juries,  jails  and  revolvers  for  her  God 
given  right  to  protect  her  home  from  the  monster  evil. 
The  pulpit  and  pew  may  cry  out  for  shame.  Judges 
and  juries  may  be  purchased.  Politicians  may  com 
bine  with  whiskey  rings,  "But  know  thou  that  for  all 
these  things,  God  shall  bring  thee  unto  judgment." 
My  full  faith  is  that  she  will  outride  all  legal  storms, 
ridicule  and  abuse  and  give  a  living  impetus  to  the 
"whife  ribboned"  cause,  peace  and  plenty  to  the  drunk 
ard's  wife  and  suffering  children,  such  as  has  not  been 
seen  in  the  past  fifty  years. 

To  me  it  is  but  another  struggle  of  the  soul  to  rise 
to  higher  and  happier  conditions,  a  death  struggle  in 
which  good  shall  come  from  all  of  it  and  future  citi 
zens  shall  wonder  why  such  things  ever  existed. 

I  thank  her  in  behalf  of  tens  of  thousands  of  boys 
who  will  soon  be  coming  upon  the  stage  of  action  only 
to  be  bankrupt  in  spirit,  mind  and  body  if  the  struggle 
is  not  made.  I  thank  her  in  behalf  of  tens  of  thousands 
of  mothers  who  today  are  suffering  spiritually,  mental 
ly  and  physically  all  over  our  land  because  the  gilded 
monster  is  allowed  to  exist  in  our  midst.  But  most  of 
all  I  thank  her  for  showing  to  the  world  the  grand, 
moral  strength  of  motherhood  when  necessary  to  call 


348  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

it  into  action,  as  seen,  heard  and  felt  at  the  auditorium 
last  Sabbath  afternoon. 

All  hail  then  to  Mrs.  Nation.  I  say  lead  on,  grand 
soul !  the  way  grows  clearer. 

D.  G.  CURTIS. 

IN   NORTH   CAROLINA. 

We  spent  the  last  half  of  the  month  of  July,  1907, 
in  North  Carolina,  spoke  at  Greensboro,  Graham,  Gas- 
tonia,  Raleigh,  Burlington,  Hickory,  High  Point  and 
Durham,  besides  other  places.  At  this  last  named 
place  are  the  plants  of  the  world-wide  American  To 
bacco  Company,  two  immense  buildings,  one  of  them 
turning  out  every  week  on  an  average  107,200  pounds 
of  smoking  tobacco  called  "Duke's  Mixture ;"  and  th^ 
devil's  mixture  it  is,  of  dope,  corruption,  filth  and  di 
sease.  On  one's  arrival  the  terrible  smell  was  in  the  air. 
Thousands  of  gallons  of  rum  are  used.  All  these  huge 
tanks  are  staked  around  the  buildings.  We  called  at 
the  "Bull  Durham"  (  a  slander  on  the  bull,)  but  used 
because  of  the  animal  portrayed  by  their  pictures,  but 
were  not  allowed  to  look  over  the  plant.  The  manager 
refused  to  tell  of  the  ingredients  used  to  manufacture 
this  poison.  The  bull  is  on  everything  about  the  fac 
tory.  Of  course  no  bull  will  touch  this  weed,  but  it 
suits  the  Dukes  to  advance  the  lust  the  name  brings 
up.  We  went  past  the  graveyard  and  saw  the  marble 
mausoleum  of  the  old  Mr.  Duke.  We  thought  that  it 
is  just,  that  what  we  do  while  we  live  shall  be  on  our 
tombstones  when  we  die,  and  what  a  sight  to  have  seen 
his  tomb  plastered  over  with  "Bull  Durham"  and 
"Duke's  Mixture,"  it  would  be  no  slander  to  him.  The 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  349 

Dukes  have  endowed  Trinity  College,  where  the 
Methodist  ministers  of  North  Carolina  are  educated. 
How  would  it  look  to  have  the  "Bull  Durham"  and 
"Duke's  Mixture"  on  its  walls?  Also  now  they  are 
building  a  Methodist  memorial  church  to  the  old  man 
Duke.  One  of  the  windows  of  this  church  should  be 
decorated  with  the  exploits  of  this  old  man  who  has 
put  on  foot  the  most  extensive  degradation  of  man 
kind.  There  is  not  a  brewer  or  distiller  in>the  United 
States  that  has  degraded  mankind  as  much  as  this 
"Duke's  Mixture"  of  vice  and  filth.  If  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  College  could  accept  the  endowment  from 
a  distillery  it  would  be  no  worse.  Of  course  this  is  to 
muzzle  the  mouths  of  the  ministers  and  we  hear  that 
the  presiding  elders  are  relegating  to  the  rear  the  min 
isters  that  are  crying  aloud  against  this  lust  of  tobacco. 
So  far  as  money  is  concerned  one  is  not  to  be  blamed 
to  get  and  use  all  the  money  for  God  from  any  source ; 
but  when  such  money  is  used  to  hush  the  voice  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  that  commands  the  condemnation  of  such, 
then  it  is  a  curse,  and  we  can  say :  "Woe  to  a  city  built 
with  blood,  woe  to  Trinity  College,  built  with  blood. 
If  the  ministers  at  Trinity  College  are  educated  to  de 
nounce  the  Duke  factory  as  a  damning  cancer  in  the 
world ;  if  they  so  declare  their  intention  to  accept  the 
money  that  it  may  be  used  to  destroy  these  works  of 
the  devil,  this  money  could  be  used  without  sin.  We 
cannot  partake  of  the  table  of  the  Lord  and 
the  table  of  devils."  The  Pharasees  that  crucified 
our  Lord  were  more  consistent,  they  said,  "It  is  the 
price  of  blood,"  and  would  not  put  it  in  the  treasury. 
These  Dukes  are  making  the  deadly  cigarettes  and 


350  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

giving  away  the  poisonous  paper  that  our  boys  may  be 
enticed  into  this  worst  of  vices.  This  Duke's  Mixture 
is  all  the  works  of  the  devil.  Can  Trinity  College  de 
pend  on  the  works  of  the  devil  to  live?  "Must  we 
sin  that  Grace  may  abound?"  We  find  the  churches 
of  Durham  have  officials  that  are  part  owners  in  this 
infernal  business. 

Oh,  the  deadly  cigarette.  Thank  God  for  the  work 
of  Miss  Lucy  Page  Gaston,  of  Chicago.  Mr.  Roose 
velt  has  never  said  a  word  against  this  curse,  he  is 
crying  "Army  and  Navy"  and  he  knows  the  difficulty 
in  manning  the  army  and  navy  is  the  cigarette  as  it  is 
the  difficulty  in  getting  young  men  for  any  responsi 
ble  position.  Oh,  give  us  manhood  and  womanhood. 
We  want  peace  on  earth  good  will  to  man.  This  pre 
paration  for  bloodshed  or  war  is  inhuman,  it  is  of 
satan.  The  volunteer  always  fought  the  great  battles. 
Words  fail  me  to  express  my  grief  at  the  degradation 
of  those  I  love,  those  made  in  the  image  of  God,  "And 
except  that  the  Lord  had  shortened  those  days  no  flesh 
should  be  saved."  (Mark  13:20.) 

As  my  book  is  going  to  press  I  have  just  time  to  tell 
of  my  arrest  in  Pittsburg.  I  was  on  a  street  car  when 
a  man  sat  in  front  of  me  with  a  masonic  pin  on,  I  said 
to  Sister  Arrowsmith  who  was  with  me,  "That  man  is 
wearing  a  symbol  of  heathenism  and  idolatry.  He  has 
a  worshipful  master  and  belongs  to  an  oath  bound 
fraternity,  who  swear  to  have  their  tongue  cut  out, 
their  throat  cut  across,  their  hearts  torn  out  and  given 
to  the  beasts,  their  bowels  taken  out  and  burned  to 
ashes.  These  oaths  originated  in  hell  and  are  blas 
phemous  and  unmans  every  one  who  takes  them."  I 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  351 

also  made  some  other  statements  which  were  all  true, 
and  this  man  went  to  the  police  station  swore  out  a 
warrant  to  have  me  arrested  because  I  told  him  what 
he  did  and  was.  Pitiful  man !  A  woman  made  him 
so  ashamed  of  himself  that  he  called  to  his  aid  the 
brutal  detective,  Daily,  who  roughly  arrested  me,  and 
then  proceeded  to  tell  the  crowd  a  lot  of  lies  on  me. 
Where,  O  where,  can  chivalry  be  found,  "Justice  is 
fled  to  bruitish  hearts,  and  men  have  lost  their  reason." 

I  was  locked  in  jail  about  two  hours.  I  paid  a  for 
feit  of  $30,  in  order  to  attend  my  meeting  that  after-, 
noon  and  night  at  the  Pentecostal  church.  Next  morn 
ing  I  was  called  before  police  judge  Brady  and  he  gave 
me  a  sentence  of  $25  or  30  days  in  the  work  house.  I 
have  said  that  I  would  never  pay  another  fine.  I  don't 
have  to,  for  dozens  of  people  want  to  pay  them  for 
me  and  the  dear  women  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  rushed 
around  and  paid  my  fine  for  me.  This  arrest  and  fine 
was  for  being  disorderly  enough  to  speak  the  truth, 
but  I  can  feel  added  strength  and  grace  after  all  these 
persecutions.  This  is  the  33rd  time  I  have  been  in  jail 
for  the  truth's  sake  and,  O,  Lord,  Thy  will  be  done 
through  and  through  by  me  whatever  the  cost.  Pray 
for  me. 

Close  to  Wichita  there  is  a  town  called  Derbe.  They 
were  running  dives  in  this  little  town.  Sam  Amidon, 
the  County  Attorney  and  Mahan,  both  of  whom  I 
mention  in  my  book,  the  latter  the  owner  of  a  whole 
sale  liquor  house,  were  the  prime  movers  in  running 
these  dives.  The  women  of  Derbe,  smashed  up  these 
places.  Amidon  and  Mahan  went  down  in  their  auto 
mobile,  in  great  style  to  arrest  and  prosecute  the  "law- 


352  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

abiding  women"  who  met  these  two  men,  and  they  left 
Derbe,  with  more  haste  and  less  style.  Sister  Myra 
McHenry  who  was  one  of  the  raiders  writes  it  up  so 
well  that  I  will  insert  it  here  in  my  book.  Sister  Mc 
Henry  has  suffered,  perhaps  as  much  as  I  have,  from 
the  "rummies"  of  Kansas,  being  put  in  jail  many 
times,  "for  righteousness  sake." 

A  FOOT  RACE  GAME 

WITH  EGGS  AS  THE  PROPELLING  POWER. 

Oh,  Amidon  !   Oh,  Amidon !  yes  the  word 

has  come  to  me, 
They  are  smashing  our  whiskey  shop  in 

old  Derbe. 

We  do  not  need  to  catch  the  car — 
For  my  thoughts  are  on  the  saloon  bar, 
Rush  the  "auto"  round  a  whizzing, 
And  we'll  go  down  to  Derbe  sizzing. 
They  jump  into  their  auto  fine, 
And  Wichita  is  left  behind. 
They  went  along  with  might  and  main, 
The  town  of  Derbe  sure  to  gain ; 
They  minded  not  the  scorching  heat, 
The  rabbit's  gait  was  not  more  fleet, 
The  fields  of  corn  they  did  not  see, 
While  on  their  way  to  old  Derbe, 
The  bovine  grazing  on  the  hills, 
Verdure  of  the  valleys  and  the  rills, 
Had  not  the  charms  for  these  fellers ; 
The  mean  outlawed  whiskey  sellers. 
"Ah  hah !"    They  say,  "for  many  years 
O'er  Derbe  town  we've  been  the  peers, 

22 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  358 

Made  them  think  we're  the  "only  it" 
At  this  late  day  will  not  say  "nit." 
Sam  Amidon,  the  legal  light, 
Is  always  ready  for  a  fight, 
And  Mahan  by  his  side  you  see, 
Came  riding  into  old  Derbe. 
Now  Derbe  is  quite  a  little  place ; 
And  now  she  boasts  a  mighty  race. 
I'll  tell  you  how  it  came  about, 
And  how  Sam  Amidon  got  out; 
And  Mahan  also  took  'a  hand 
Joined  the  Derbe  foot  race  band. 
Now  Sammy  in  his  diamonds  bright, 
Made  quite  a  fine  imposing  sight; 
And  this  was  when  he  first  got  there ; 
Also  before  he  took  his  rare — 
It  was  eggs,  and  not  sirloin  steak, 
'Twas  eggs,  and  not  a  Boston  bake. 
And  a  foot  race  game  with  eggs, 
Also  with  whiskey,  beer,  and  kegs, 
With  Mahan  hunting  for  the  sands, 
Like  the  Dodo  in  Dodo  lands. 
His  head  he'd  tuck  round  and  round, 
And  then  would  jump  up  with  a  bound, 
Stretched  again  with  mighty  power, 
Gained  the  foot  race  of  the  hour. 
The  grandest  sight  I  ever  saw 
Was  Sammy  taking  his  eggs  raw. 
He  did  not  say,  "your  honor,  please," 
As  his  custom,  with  grace  and  ease, 
But  pawed  the  dust  up  with  THEM  feet, 
Cased  in  patent  leathers  neat, 


354  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

And  none  can  boast  a  race  well  run 

As  Mahan  and  Sam  Amidon. 

Eggs  forthcoming  would  not  have  been, 

Had  not  these  men  their  nose  stuck  in. 

They  know  it  now  and  "nose"  it  well, 

What  kind  of  eggs  at  Derbe  sell. 

The  auto  left  this  town,  whizzing, 

Back  to  Wichita  went  sizzing. 

And  Derbe  will  her  banner  wave 

O'er  homes  made  free  by  mothers  brave. 

(MAHAN'S  REFRAIN.) 

Oh,  am  I  done!   Oh,  am  I  done! 
Oh,  yes,  the  race  was  fairly  won; 
The  dust  we  made  was  a  caution. 
On  the  way  we  did  some  washin' 
While  going  down  to  Derbe  town, 
We  did  not  stop  to  look  around, 
And  from  old  Derbe  to  this  place 
We  ne'er  turned  our  egg-nogg  face. 
Dear  Amidon,  'tis  all  too  true, 
That  those  eggs  were  anything  but  new. 
We'll  learn  a  lesson  from  that  day, 
And  let  the  WOMEN  have  their  way. 
They  are  worse  than  all  creation, 
Just  one  solid  Carry  Nation. 
Farewell,  old  Derbe,  whate'er  betide, 
I'll  ne'er  forget  that  auto  ride. 
Those  women,  they  are  made  of  stuff, 
The  sample  of,  I've  had  enough.  ' 

MYRA  MCHENRY. 


MASONRY  AS  IT  IS. 

(By  E.  Ronayne  and  others.) 

MASONRY  AS  IT  IS. COMPACT  OF  EVIL. FOE  TO  WOMAN 

— EXPERIENCES   OF    A    ROYAL    ARCH    MASON. FOE    TO 

TRUE    MANHOOD. DRESS    OF    CANDIDATES. MASONIC 

PREACHERS. HORRIBLE    DEATH    PENALTIES. PURELY 

ANTI-CHRISTIAN. — -ITS     OATHS     ILLEGAL. CLAIM     OF 

SECRECY      A      SWINDLE. ITS      CHARITY     A      FRAUD. 

SHIELDS      CRIMINALS. A      LIE     ALL     OVER. SECRECY 

AND  SIN. 

"I  spake  openly  to  the  world;  I  ever  taught  in  the 
synagogue,  and  in  the  temple,  whither  the  Jews  al 
ways  resort ;  and  in  secret  have  I  said  nothing."  (John 
18:20.) 

If  there  is  one  yoke  of  slavery  heavier  than  another, 
it  is  the  Masonic.  If  there  is  one  set  of  men  snared 
more  than  another  into  cowardice  and  abject,  hopeless 
thralldrom,  that  set  is  the  Masons.  I  rush  to  their 
rescue,  I  pity  them.  I  would  smash  those  yokes  and 
free  them.  I  would  not  condemn  them  as  men,  some 
of  the  best  and  purest  men  are  drawn  into  this  Devil's 
net.  Every  true  man  is  a  victim :  he  cannot  but  revolt 
at  such  a  silly  and  wicked  conspiracy  against  his  own 
manhood,  his  freedom  of  speech,  his  true  dealings  with 
his  fellow  man,  against  woman,  against  the  sanctity  of 
marriage  and,  against  "the  Lord  that  bought  him." 
Like  a  man  stealer,  Satan  caught  and  secured  them  in 
a  most  fearful  compact  of  hell,  and  these  murderous 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  357 

oaths,  constantly  keep  before  them  this  menace,  that 
if  they  tell  what  they  do  and  see  in  the  lodge  they  are 
forever  barred  from  the  confidence  of  their  fellow 
man.  This  is  opposed  to  God's  law  and  opposed  also 
to  the  law  of  man.  Suppose  twenty  men  bind  them 
selves,  knowingly  and  willingly,  to  murder  all  the  male 
children  in  New  York.  One  repents  and  confesses,  the 
nineteen  do  not.  Which  would  be  the  better  of  the 
two?  This  is  not  a  fair  illustration  for  you  know 
nothing  of  the  terrible  oaths  and  obligations,  every 
one  is  forced  upon  you.  The  only  true  course  is  to  re 
pent,  confess,  and  condemn.  Hear  what  God  says  in 
Leviticus  5 :4,  5,  "Or  if  a  soul  swear,  pronouncing  with 
his  lips  to  do  evil,  or  to  do  good,  whatsoever  it  be  that 
a  man  pronounce  with  an  oath,  and  it  be  hid  from  him  ; 
v/hen  he  knoweth  of  it,  then  he  shall  be  guilty  in  one 
of  these.  And  it  shall  be,  when  he  shall  be  guilty  in 
one  of  these  things,  that  he  shall  confess  that  he  hath 
sinned  in  that  thing."  This  makes  it  a  sin  to  swear  as 
you  do  in  the  Masonic  Lodge ;  it  makes  it  a  sin  to  keep 
those  oaths  you  took  in  the  Masonic  Lodge;  makes 
it  a  sin  to  compel  you  to  do  what  God  says  you  must 
not  do.  Now  the  death  penalties  in  the  lodge  are  not 
for  committing  sin,  stealing,  and  lying,  and  murder, 
but  they  are  for  telling  the  truth  about  the  order.  The 
truth  is  what  hurts.  Persons  have  said  to  me  time 
and  time  again,  "Why  don't  you  confine  yourself  to 
the  liquor  traffic  and  let  the  secret  orders  alone?"  I 
will  tell  you  why.  When  an  epidemic  is  in  the  land  we 
destroy  the  cause ;  we  would  not  kill  a  man  for  get 
ting  the  small  pox,  but  we  kill  the  small  pox  for  get 
ting  the  man.  The  liquor  traffic,  vice,  lust,  lies  and 


358  THE   USE   AND    NEED  OF 

all  crimes  are  openly  condemned.  Every  one  can  see 
and  taste  of  the  forbidden  fruit.  "The  axe  must  be 
laid  at  the  root  of  the  tree."  (Matt.  3  :10.)  The  roots 
are  hidden.  When  a  man  swears  to  conceal  the  truth 
concerning  anything,  he  swears  to  lie  about  it,  and  the 
root  of  lies  is  planted  in  the  heart  of  man.  When  a 
man  swears  to  respect  the  chastity  of  a  certain  class 
of  women  the  root  of  fornication  and  adultery  is  plant 
ed  in  the  mind  of  man.  When  a  man  swears  to  be 
honest  with  a  certain  class  of  men  the  root  of  dishon 
esty  is  planted  in  the  character  of  man.  The  state  is 
what  the  individuals  are,  make  a  tree  good  and  its  fruit 
will  be  good.  "A  corrupt  tree  cannot  bring  forth  good 
fruit."  (Matt.  7:18.)  Our  children  are  the  results  of 
ourselves  and  society ;  if  parents  are  corrupt  in  thought 
and  deed,  the  children  of  course  will  be,  and  the  State 
will  be.  From  this  cause  we  have  a  corrupt  govern 
ment.  The  father  has  his  secret  organization  from 
which  his  wife,  son  and  daughter  are  excluded.  The 
mother  has  hers,  from  which  the  husband,  son  and 
daughter  are  excluded.  Can  these  parents  blame  these 
sons  and  daughters  for  having  secrets  from  which  they 
are  excluded?  Thus  and  thus,  is  confidence  destroyed 
in  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  home  and  reach,  from 
the  home,  to  Church  and  State.  Perfect  unity  and  do 
mestic  tranquillity  is  shattered,  *evil  grows,  and  the 
roots  produce  the  tree.  If  secret  orders  are  good  every 
one  should  know  of  all  this  good.  If  the  motive  is 
right  there  is  no  need  of  concealment. 

The  Devil  is  using  the  same  method  to  kill  human 
ity  that  we  use  to  kill  rats.  We  make  a  mixture  of 
good  and  bad,  and  we  are  sure  to  give  more  good  than 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  359 

bad.  The  bread  is  the  largest  quantity,  it  disguises 
the  poison,  and  they  are  caught  with  this  deception. 
The  poison  kills  before  the  bread  could  possibly  do 
any  good.  Jesus  said:  "You  are  of  your  father,  the 
Devil,  and  the  lust  of  your  father  you  will  do  for  he 
was  a  murderer  from  the  beginning  and  abode  not  in 
the  truth."  (John  8:44.)  Does  not  a  man  lie  when 
he  allows  himself  to  be  blindfolded,  with  a  hoodwink 
and  then  says  he  is  seeking  light?  Is  not  lying  and 
murder  a  prominent  thing  in  the  initiation  of  a  Mason  ? 
Masonry  is  a  mixture,  of  the  different  idolatrous 
worship  of  the  sun.  They  have  their  "worshipful 
master"  which  represents  the  sun.  Is  this  not  blas 
phemy  to  call  any  man  worshipful  master?  We  are 
forbidden  to  call  any  man  master,  "one  is  your  Master, 
even  Christ."  (Matt.  23:10.)  Is  it  not  the  vilest  blas 
phemy  to  even  suggest  that  Jesus  Christ  would  ever 
enter  a  Masonic  Lodge?  Hear  what  He  says 
about  this:  "This  is  the  condemnation,  that  light  has 
come  into  the  world,  and  men  love  darkness  rather 
than  light  because  their  deeds  were  evil,  for  everyone 
that  doeth  evil  hateth  the  light;  neither  cometh  to  the 
light  lest  his  deeds  should  be  reproved,  but  he  that 
doeth  the  truth  cometh  to  the  light  that  his  deeds  may 
be  made  manifest  that  they  are  wrought  in  God." 
(John  3  :19-22.)  Truth  loves  the  light  and  hates  dark 
ness,  falsehood  loves  the  darkness  and  hates  light. 
There  is  nothing  that  a  Masonic  lodge  is  so  antag 
onistic  to,  as  light  and  truth.  Their  horrible  death 
penalties  are  not  from  committing  crime  but  from  tell 
ing  the  truth.  This  is  as  ancient  as  the  Devil  who 
formed  the  secret  lodge  in  heaven  when  he  made  war 


360  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

with  God  and  was  thrown  over  the  battlements  of 
heaven  and  is  now  down  here  on  earth  doing  his  old 
tricks. 

The  W.  C.  T.  U.  should  organize  a  crusade  against 
this  fortification  of  evil  that  is  directly  opposed  to  wo 
man  and  her  influence  over  man.  A  lodge  divorces 
a  man  from  home  ties  and  takes  him  away  from  his 
wife  just  at  the  time  he  should  be  there,  in  the  even 
ing.  All  the  millions  of  dollars  that  go  into  the  Mason 
lodge  is  a  robbery  of  the  American  homes.  Women 
have  suffered  untold  agonies  from  their  husbands 
being  away  from  them.  It  causes  weeping  women,  it 
causes  jealousy.  Read  the  8th  chapter  of  Ezekiel 
from  the  5th  to  the  17th  verses  and  you  will  see  there 
a  description  of  a  secret  lodge.  You  seldom  find  a 
Mason  at  the  prayer  meeting.  You  never  find  spirit 
ual  ministers  Masons.  They  do  not  give  one-tenth  as 
much  to  charity  as  dangles  from  their  watch  fobs  in 
disgraceful  signs.  The  sign  of  the  Shriner  is  the  sword 
and  the  Crescent  of  Mahomet,  whose  cry  is,  "Down 
with  the  Christians." 

While  they  will  not  put  me  in  jail  for  attacking  the 
Masonic  lodge,  they  will  close  their  churches  against 
me;  I  am  shut  out  from  chautauquas ;  and  this  will 
continue,  but  I  will  stand  alone  with  God.  I  shall  de 
liver  my  soul  and  "declare  unto  this  people  whether 
they  will  hear  or  whether  they  will  forbear."  Below 
I  will  give  you  a  letter  which  was  written  by  a  man 
who  has  been  a  Royal  Arch  Mason.  I  will  let  him 
speak  for  himself.  He  says : 

"I  occupied  successively  the  official  position  of  Sec 
retary,  Senior  Warden,  and  Worshipful  Master  of 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  361 

Keystone  Lodge,  No.  639  Chicago.  It  became  impera 
tive  that  I  acquire  a  thorough  and  accurate  knowledge 
of  the  Standard  Ritual,  and  Work  of  the  three  sym 
bolic  degrees.  That  was  easily  accomplished  however 
by  witnessing  the  degrees  conferred  in  other  lodges, 
by  occasional  attendance  at  grand  lectures,  by  observ 
ing  the  work  as  exemplified  in  the  Grand  Lodge  (of 
which  I  was  a  member)  and  above  all  by  personal  in 
struction  received  from  such  prominent  Masons  as, 
D.  H.  Kilgore,  H.  F.  Holcomb  and  John  O'Neil  Dis 
trict  Deputy  Grand  Masters  in  Chicago,  but  more 
especially  from  Mr.  Edward  Cook,  late  Grand  Master 
of  Masons  of  Illinois. 

"In  the  days  of  the  Judges  when  'the  children  of 
Israel  again  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  after 
Ehud  was  dead.'  (Judges  3:12.)  And  there  being  no 
man  to  deliver  them  from  the  power  of  the  enemy  into 
whose  hands  they  were  given,  the  Lord  raised  up  De 
borah,  (Judges  4:4)  a  woman,  to  judge  His  people 
and  to  rescue  them  from  the  power  of  the  oppressor 
and  thus  has  He  also  done  in  these  last  days  in  rais 
ing  up  Carry  A.  Nation. 

The  beer  shop  and  the  lodge  room,  twin  forces  of 
evil,  having  everything  their  own  way  in  this  country, 
and  the  nominal  church  courting  popular  favor  rather 
than  standing  up  boldly  and  fearlessly  for  the  truth  of 
God.  Carry  A.  Nation  was  called  out  as  God's  wit 
ness  for  righteousness,  her  heart  filled  with  loyalty  to 
Christ  and  His  Word,  and  endowed  with  courage, 
fearlessness  and  a  power  of  endurance  seldom  wit 
nessed  even  in  the  boldest  of  men.  She  has  gone  forth 
from  the  very  beginning  striking  boldly  at  every  form 


362  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

of  evil  whether  found  in  the  White  House  or  in  the 
hovel  of  poverty  and  from  proud,  aristocratic  Wash 
ington  to  the  lowest  slum  of  any  of  our  American 
cities.  And  this  she  has  done  fearlessly,  but  calmly, 
despite  every  opposition,  and  in  the  face  of  the  scoffs 
and  jeers  and  arrests  and  imprisonments,  to  which  she 
has  been  subjected  from  the  very  first.  None  could  do 
this  and  especially  no  woman  could  do  it,  unless  se 
lected  and  sustained  by  Almighty  God.  I  have  suffer 
ed  from  the  whiskey  curse  possibly  as  much  as  any 
man  in  this  country  but  there  is  another  abomination, 
and  one  even  more  dangerous  and  more  farreaching 
in  its  evil  results  because  it  is  clothed  in  mock  right 
eousness  and  sustained  by  all  but  popular  favor,  I 
mean  the  low  pagan  and  anti-christian  lodge  system 
already  referred  as  the  twin-sister  of  the  saloon. 

"Let  us  look  into  the  Masonic  lodge  room  and  see 
what  they  do.  In  the  outer  room  we  find  a  preacher  or 
a  saloon  keeper  or  a  Jew  waiting  to  be  initiated.  He  is 
first  divested  of  all  his  outer  garments  except  his  shirt 
and  drawers.  His  left  leg,  left  arm  and  left  breast  are 
made  bare,  a  hoodwink  is  carefully  fastened  over  his 
eyes  and  a  blue  rope  called  a  cable  tow  is  put  once 
around  his  neck  and  he  is  now  prepared  to  receive  the 
first  degree  in  Masonry.  Look  at  him  well  as  he  stands 
at  the  door  of  the  lodge,  the  Rev.  John  Doe,  a  pro 
fessed  minister  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  hear  what 
Masonry  has  to  say  about  him :  "There  he  stands  with 
out  our  portals  on  the  threshold  of  his  new  Masonic 
life  in  darkness  helplessness  and  ignorance.  Having 
been  wandering  amid  the  errors  and  covered  over  with 
the  polutions  of  the  outer  and  profane  worM  he  come« 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  363 

inquiringly  to  our  doors  seeking  the  new  birth,  and 
asking  for  a  withdrawal  of  the  veil  which  conceals 
Divine  truth  from  his  uninitiated  sight."  "Manual  of 
the  Lodge"  by  Albert  G.  Mackey,  p.  20.  So  then  we 
gather  from  this,  that  Free  Masonry  is  divine  truth, 
and  imparts  regeneration  though  rejecting  the  teach 
ings  of  Christ.  And  let  me  add  here  that  every  Ma 
sonic  candidate,  no  matter  what  may  be  his  station  or 
calling,  must  submit  to  this  disgusting  and  degrading 
ceremony  of  preparation  above  described,  and  it 
grows  worse  and  worse  as  he  advances  in  the  Masonic 
degrees.  But  what  is  all  this  denuding  and  these 
hoodwinks  and  halters  for?  By  and  by  he  is  led  to 
the  Masonic  altar  and  caused  to  kneel  upon  his  naked 
left  knee,  his  left  hand  beneath  the  Holy  Bible,  square 
and  compass  and  his  right  hand  upon  it,  and  among 
other  things  is  caused  to  swear  as  follows:  "I  (John 
Doe)  of  my  own  free  will  and  accord  in  the  presence 
of  Almighty  God  and  this  worshipful  lodge  erected  to 
him,  and  dedicated  to  the  holy  Saint  John  do  hereby 
and  hereon  most  solemnly  and  sincerely  promise  and 
swear  that  I  will  always  hail,  ever  conceal,  and  never 
reveal  any  of  the  secret  arts,  parts  or  points  of  the 
hidden  mysteries  of  ancient  Free  Masonry  to  any  per 
son  or  persons  whomsoever  except  it  be  to  a  true  and 
lawful  brother  Mason,  etc." 

As  regards  the  forgoing  part  of  the  Masonic  oath, 
which  is  repeated  with  the  necessary  variations  in 
every  subsequent  degree  the  following  points  are  self 
evident : 

1st.  It  is  administered  without  the  slightest  warrant 
of  law  and  is  therefore  extra-judicial  and  void.  Where 


364  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

is  there  any  legal  authority  for  the  Masonic  oath  ? 

2nd.  It  is  absolutely  indefinite,  the  candidate  know 
ing  nothing  whatever  about  what  he  is  swearing  to, 
and  is  therefore  contrary  to  the  immutable  law  of  God. 
In  Leviticus  5:4,  5,  we  read  as  follows:  "If  a  soul 
swear  pronouncing  with  his  lips  to  do  evil,  or  to  do 
good,  whatsoever  it  be  that  a  man  shall  pronounce  with 
an  oath  and  it  be  hid  from  him  when  he  knoweth 
of  it,  then  he  shall  be  guilty  in  one  of  these."  Herod's 
oath  and  the  Masonic  are  precisely  the  same, 
both  are  indefinite,  Herod  did  not  know  what  he  was 
swearing  to,  and  neither  does  the  Masonic  candidate. 
Herod's  wicked  oath  led  to  murder  and  the  Masonic 
oath  if  lived  up  to  will  absolutely  lead  to  the  same 
crime.  But  look  at  Leviticus  5 :5,  "And  it  shall  be 
when  he  is  guilty  in  one  of  these  things  that  he  shall 
confess  that  he  hath  sinned  in  that  thing." 

But  the  Masonic  obligation  requires  that  one  shall 
"always  hail,  ever  conceal,"  and  hence  according  to 
Masonic  law,  the  Mason  must  never  confess,  but  be 
true  and  loyal  to  Masonry  during  his  natural  life.  If 
this  be  not  in  direct  violation  of  God's  law  then  it  is 
impossible  to  say  what  is.  But  let  us  look  a  little  fur 
ther  into  the  Entered  Apprentice's  oath.  Our  candidate 
we  have  seen  is  a  preacher,  and  his  wife  full  of  interest 
as  to  his  work  and  reading  and  hearing  so  much 
about  Masonry  is  anxious  to  know  the  truth.  So  she 
inquires  of  her  husband :  "John  I  am  informed  that 
when  a  man  is  about  to  be  made  a  Mason,  they  take 
off  his  clothes  even  to  his  shoes  and  stockings,  and 
have  him  dressed  only  in  his  shirt  and  drawers.  Is 
that  so?"  "No  it  is  not  so."  "Did  they  blind  fold  you 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  365 

John?"  "No  they  did  not."  "Did  they  put  a  rope 
around  your  neck?"  "No  there  are  no  such  things  in 
Masonry  to  my  knowledge."  Now  what  is  this  preach 
er  doing  in  all  these  denials?  He  is  simply  living  up 
to  his  Masonic  oath  by  concealing  the  truth,  but  he  is 
lying  outright  and  lymg  to  his  wife  even  at  that.  Ma 
sonry  has  come  between  them  and  while  there  can  be 
confidential  conferences  and  secrets  between  himself 
and  the  vilest  saloon  keeper  or  boot-legger  in  the  coun 
try,  he  cannot,  he  dare  not  communicate  the  same  se 
crets  to  the  wife  of  his  bosom.  "The  Devil  was  a  mur 
derer  from  the  beginning  and  abode  not  in  the  truth 
because  there  is  no  truth  in  him.  When  he  speaketh 
a  lie,  he  speaketh  of  his  own  for  he  is  a  liar  and  the 
father  of  it."  (John  8:44.)  And  hence  without  room 
for  disputation  or  doubt  the  Devil  is  the  father  of  Ma 
sonry  and  because  of  the  nature  of  its  oaths  and  obli 
gations  compels  each  of  its  members  to  make  lies  his 
refuge.  But  let  us  proceed  further.  At  the  close  of 
the  first  oath  the  candidate  swears  as  follows:  "Bin-d 
ing  myself  under  no  less  a  penalty  than  that  of  having 
my  throat  cut  across,  my  tongue  torn  out  by  the  roots, 
etc."  In  the  second  or  Fellow  Craft  degree  it  is, 
"Binding  myself  under  no  less  a  penalty  than  that  of 
having  my  lef  c  breast  torn  open  my  heart  plucked  out, 
etc."  And  in  the  third  or  Master  Mason's  degree  the 
candidate  swears:  "Binding  myself  under  no  less  a 
penalty  than  that  of  having  my  body  severed  in  twain, 
my  bowels  taken  from  thence  and  burned  to  ashes  and 
the  ashes  scattered  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven,  etc." 
Can  you  conceive  of  anything  more  horrible  or  more 
inhuman  than  are  these  awful  penalties  of  death?  And 


366  THE  USE  AND   NEED  OF 

to  think  that  an  American  citizen,  preachers  and  others 
are  sworn  under  these  blood  curdling  penalties,  can 
only  prove  one  thing;  namely,  "that  the  God  of  this 
world, — the  devil, — has  blinded  the  minds  of  them  that 
believe  not  lest  the  light  of  the  glorious  gospel  of  Christ 
who  is  the  image  of  God  should  shine  unto  them."  (II 
Cor.  4:4.)  But  remember  that  inasmuch  as  every  Ma 
son  is  sworn  to  have  these  inhuman  and  barbarous 
penalties  inflicted  upon  himself  should  he  ever  divulge 
any  of  the  silly  so-called  secrets  of  Masonry,  so  by  the 
same  clause  in  the  same  oath,  he  swears  to  inflict  them 
on  another  brother  Mason,  his  own  son  perhaps,  or  his 
brother  according  to  the  flesh.  So  then  in  the  first  part 
of  the  oath  or  obligation  of  a  Mason  he  swears  to  de 
ceive  or  lie  even  to  his  wife  or  child,  and  now  in  the 
closing  part  he  swears  to  assasinate  a  brother  Mason 
under  certain  circumstances  if  called  upon  to  do  so. 
There  is  no  getting  away  from  this  conclusion  and  re 
member  that  these  horrible  penalties  do  not  mean  the 
death  of  a  martyr  for  constancy  and  loyalty  to  the  Ma 
sonic  system,  but  they  mean  a  mode  of  death  of  which 
a  savage  would  be  ashamed,  and  that  for  divulging  an 
alleged  secret  that  has  no  existence  and  in  fact  never 
has  had. 

But  now  for  a  brief  space  let  us  look  further  at  this 
Master  Mason's  oath,  "Furthermore  that  I  will  stand 
to  and  abide  by  all  the  laws,  rules  and  regulations  of 
the  Master  Mason's  degree."  But  what  are  these 
"laws,  rules  and  regulations?"  He  doesn't  know  and 
yet  he  swears  to  "stand  to  and  abide  by"  them  all.  Is 
this  in  accordance  with  American  laws  and  usages? 
No  it  is  diametrically  opposite,  and  also  diametrically 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  367 

opposite  to  the  law  of  God  as  in  Leviticus  5  :4,  5. 
''Furthermore,  that  I  will  not  cheat,  wrong  or  de 
fraud  a  lodge  of  Master  Masons  nor  a  brother  of  this 
degree  knowingly."  But  he  can  cheat,  wrong  and  de 
fraud  all  others  if  he  has  a  chance.  At  best  this  clause 
enforces  only  partial  honesty  which  is  simply  dishon 
esty  and  nothing  more.  "Furthermore,  that  I  will  keep 
the  secrets  of  a  brother  Master  Mason  as  inviolable  as 
my  own,  murder  and  treason  excepted,  and  these  at 
my  own  option."  Suppose  this  Mason  is  called  into 
court  as  a  witness  in  a  case  when  another  Master  Ma 
son  is  the  defendant  and  of  whose  crimes  or  crime  he 
has  knowledge,  which  oath  will  he  obey,  his  legal  oath 
administered  according  to  law,  or  his  lodge  oath  ad 
ministered  contrary  to  law  ?  He  cannot  obey  both,  he 
cannot  be  an  honest  witness  and  a  good  Mason. 

"Furthermore,  that  I  will  not  have  illicit  carnal  in 
tercourse  with  a  Master  Mason's  wife,  mother,  sister 
or  daughter,  I  knowing  them  to  be  such."  And  the 
wives,  sisters,  mothers  and  daughters  of  other  men, 
what  about  them?  This  clause  including  only  the  fe 
male  relatives  of  Masons  indicates  at  best  only  a  par 
tial  morality  and  hence  leaves  the  way  open  for  im 
morality  or  libertinism. 

"Further,  that  I  will  not  give  the  grand  hailing  sign, 
or  sign  of  distress  'of  a  Master  Mason  except  in  real 
distress,  and  should  I  see  the  sign  given  I  will  immed 
iately  repair  to  the  relief  of  the  person  so  giving  it 
should  there  be  a  greater  probability  of  saving  his  life 
than  of  loosing  my  own."  This  clause  of  the  Master 
Mason's  oath  applies  only  to  the  court  and  jury  room. 
A  Masonic  defendant  making  this  sign  of  distress  and 


3G8  THE    USE   AND   NEED  OF 

a  Masonic  juror  seeing  it  given,  which  oath  think  you 
will  he  obey?  He  cannot  obey  the  legal  oath  of  the 
court  and  the  illegal  lodge  oath  at  the  same  time 
and  so  I  am  quite  satisfied  to  leave  the  fur 
ther  discussion  of  this  terrible  Masonic  question  to 
the  candid  judgment  of  honest  unpre judicial  American 
men  and  women  simply  quoting  one  sentence  from  the 
"Lexicon  of  Free  Masonry"  by  Dr.  Albert  G.  Mackey, 
page  16  under  the  word  "Acacian."  "Acacian:  from 
Akkakia  innocence  and  signifying  a  Mason  who  by 
living  in  strict  obedience  to  the  obligations  and  pre 
cepts  of  the  fraternity  is  free  from  sin." 

If  this  be  not  the  doctrine  of  demons  spoken  of  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  through  Paul  will  some  one  stand  up 
and  tell  us  what  it  is? 

And  so,  Sister  Nation,  I  most  heartily  wish  you  God 
speed  in  your  noble  testimony.  The  Lord  of  the  har 
vest  is  coming  soon  and  the  "bundles"  of  men  and  wo 
men  are  being  rapidly  bound.  May  our  God  and  Father 
fully  enable  you  to  "Cry  aloud  and  spare  not,  lift  up 
thy  voice  like  a  trumpet  and  show  His  people  their 
transgression  and  the  house  of  Jacob  their  sins."  (Isa. 
53:1.) 

Faithfully  yours  in  His  service, 

E.    RONAYNE. 

Believing  that  Freemasons  are  sworn  to  keep  one 
another's  secrets,  to  assist  one  another  when  in  any 
criminal  difficulty  whether  right  or  wrong,  and  to  obey 
at  once  "the  grand  hailing  sign  of  distress,"  Mrs.  Carry 
A.  Nation  justly  concludes  that  the  Masonic  system  is 
generally  made  use  of  to  corrupt  witnesses  and  jurors 

23 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  369 

in  our  courts,  that  brewers,  distillers  and  even  saloon 
keepers  largely  use  it  in  promoting  the  interests  of 
their  nefarious  traffic,  that  it  nullifies  that  mutual  com 
munity  of  knowledge  and  confidence  that  ought  to  ex 
ist  between  husband  and  wife  and  above  and  beyond 
all  that  it  is  a  pagan  blotch  on  our  civilization,  deny 
ing  and  rejecting  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  God's  only 
remedy  for  man's  salvation, — in  a  word  Mrs.  Nation 
rightly  judges  that  Freemasonry  is  satan's  masterpiece, 
and  hence  she  opposes  it  with  all  her  might  as  she  does 
every  other  form  of  evil.  While  in  Mexico  a  question 
arose  as  to  the  correctness  of  a  statement  she  made  in 
one  of  her  lectures  as  regards  the  Masonic  oaths,  and 
learning  of  my  address  she  wrote  me  and  the  follow 
ing  is  one  of  my  letters  cheerfully  written  at  her  sug 
gestion. 

E.  RONAYNE. 

HARRISON,  ARK.,  April  13,  1908. 
DEAR  SISTER  NATION  : — 

Your  very  excellent  letter  of  the  8th  inst.  from 
Gainsville,  Florida,  was  received  last  Saturday,  and  its 
contents  carefully  noted.  I  mailed  you  a  letter  to  Or 
lando,  Florida  requesting  the  postmaster  at  that  place 
to  forward  it  if  necessary  and  I  do  hope  you  have  re 
ceived  it  before  this.  In  that  letter  you  will  find  many 
things  in  relation  to  Masonic  boycott,  etc.,  which  will 
give  you  an  idea  of  the  spirit  of  enmity  you  arouse 
when  you  denounce  that  vicious  and  anti-christian  sys 
tem.  Acting  upon  the  suggestion  in  your  last  letter 
then,  I  shall  now  state  as  briefly  as  I  can  how  and  why 
I  became  a  Freemason,  what  I  thought  of  the  system, 


370  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

the  books  I  have  written,  and  my  work  against  the  in 
stitution  for  thirty-four  years. 

Being  appointed  Principal  of  the  British  and  'Canad 
ian  Model  School  in  Quebec  City  in  1857,  and  taking 
an  active  part  in  the  fierce  religious  controversy  going 
on  in  1858  between  the  High  and  Low  church  parties 
throughout  the  entire  diocese  of  Quebec,  I  was 
brought  into  close  relationship  with  the  Orange  society 
of  the  district  and  in  June  of  that  year,  was  initiated 
into  "The  Loyal  Orange  Institution,"  receiving  in  due 
time  all  of  its  degrees — "The  Orange,  The  Purple, 
The  Blue,  The  Royal  Arch  Purple  Mark  and  the  Scar 
let — in  Aughrim  Lodge  No.  535,  and  was  elected  Mas 
ter  of  the  Lodge  in  1859.  Through  my  official  con 
nection  with  Orangeism  I  became  intimately  acquaint 
ed  with  the  leading  Freemasons  of  the  city.  From 
early  boyhood  I  had  a  strong  desire  to  know  that  great 
secret  which  is  ignorantly  supposed  to  be  held  by  Free 
masons,  and  which  they  pretend  no  outsider  can  ever 
discover.  I  made  application  to  Harrington  Lodge 
No.  49  A.  F.  and  A  M.  was  balloted  for  in  due  time, 
and  received  the  first  or  Entered  Apprentice  degree  of 
Freemasonry  in  the  fall  of  1860.  But  where  was  that 
wonderful  secret  I  had  paid  good  money  for  and  had 
sworn  to  keep  under  penalty  of  death  ?  I  had  received 
no  secret  whatever,  but  possibly  it  would  be  made 
known  further  along.  At  the  proper  time  I  attended 
lodge  meeting  again,  and  was  passed  to  the  degree  of 
Fellow  Craft,  and  on  the  night  of  December  31st  I 
was  raised  to  the  sublime  (?)  degree  of  Master  Ma 
son.  I  was  now  a  full  fledged  Freemason,  carefully 
instructed  in  all  its  alleged  mysteries,  but  where  was 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  371 

that  superlative  secret  I  had  paid  for?  I  was  put 
through  a  lot  of  uncouth  silly  and  (as  George  Wash 
ington  once  said,)  "Child's  play"  ceremonies,  but  re 
ceived  no  secret  whatever.  I  paid  $30  down  accord 
ing  to  Canadian  Masonic  law,  and  was  most  solemnly 
sworn  under  three  inhuman  death  penalties — 1st.  To 
have  "my  throat  cut  across  and  my  tongue  torn  out  by 
the  roots."  2nd.  To  'have  my  left  breast  torn  open 
and  my  heart  plucked  out,"  and  3rd.  To  "have  my 
body  severed  in  twain  and  my  bowels  taken  from 
thence  and  burned  to  ashes." — To  keep  inviolate  the 
great  Masonic  secret,  but  I  again  repeat  that  I  had  re 
ceived  no  secret  whatever  nor  anything  approaching 
a  secret.  But  on  the  contrary  I  very  soon  discovered 
that  all  the  miserable  stuff  through  which  I  was 
caused  to  pass  in  a  semi-nude  blindfolded  condition, 
together  with  the  grips,  signs,  passwords,  including 
the  great  and  wonderful  Mah-hah-bone  itself,  had  been 
printed  and  published  to  the  world  word  for  word  in 
1825,  or  seven  years  before  I  was  born,  by  one  Richard 
Carlile  of  London,  and  to  prove  that  I  had  discovered 
their  contemptible  imposition  I  exhibited  the  book 
before  them  all  at  the  next  lodge  meeting.  Now  in 
all  ordinary  business  what  would  such  a  transaction 
be  called?  Simply  a  swindle,  a  fraud,  obtaining  money 
under  false  pretenses,  and  then  withal  to  swear  men 
under  horrible  death  penalties  to  hush  up  that  swindle 
and  keep  that  fraud  a  profound  secret, — that's  Free 
masonry. 

Well  in  1865  resigning  my  position  in  Quebec  I 
moved  with  my  family  to  Illinois  and  sending  on,  my 
wife  and  two  boys  to  Steven's  Point,  Wisconsin,  where 


372  THE   USE  AND   NEED   OF 

her  father  and  mother  lived,  I  stayed  behind  in  Chicago 
and  began  at  once  to  look  for  some  employment  but 
without  success.  I  was  a  good  bookkeeper,  an  expert 
shorthand  writer,  but  it  seemed  that  there  was  no  place 
for  me  anywhere.  At  last  in  November,  1865,  I  found 
a  job  digging  and  shoveling  dirt  from  the  basement  of 
one  of  Chicago's  public  schools — "The  Kinzie," — on 
Ohio  street.  And  so  now  from  being  Principal  of  a 
public  school  in  Quebec  I  was  a  common  day  laborer 
in  the  basement  of  a  public  school  in  Chicago.  But 
never  having  done  such  work,  the  weather  being  raw 
and  cold,  and  the  cellar  damp,  I  was  attacked  with 
muscular  rheumatism  and  lay  for  fifteen  days  in  the 
garret  of  a  sailor's  boarding  house,  over  a  saloon  kept 
by  one  Dennis  Heany  on  Kinzie  street,  where  the 
North  Western  Passenger  Depot  now  stands. 
Being  told  that  I  could  not  recover  unless  I  was  sent 
to  hospital  or  removed  from  that  garret,  I  now  for  the 
first  time  put  the  Brotherly  Love,  Relief  and  Truth  of 
Masonry  to  the  test  by  summoning  three  of  the  most 
prominent  Free-Masons  in  the  neighborhood,  namely: 
Mr.  Brewster,  Mr.  Rowe  and  Mr.  Blaney.  Approach 
ing  the  bedside  one  of  them  remarked,  "O  you're  the 
sick  man,  what  seems  to  be  the  trouble?"  I  told  them 
and  satisfying  themselves  that  I  was  a  Mason  they 
went  away  but  no  relief  came.  A  Mr.  Mullally  a  com 
mission  merchant  hearing  of  the  affair  had  me  brought 
down  stairs,  put  me  into  a  hack  and  rode  with  me  to 
the  Sisters  of  Mercy  Hospital  where  he  paid  $35.00  in 
advance  before  I  was  put  into  bed  in  the  seventh  ward. 
Needless  to  say  that  Mullally  was  not  a  Mason.  Pass 
ing  over  the  years  18G6-7,  I  will  simply  say  that  by 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  373 

hard  work  I  had  earned  and  saved  enough  money  to 
buy  a  lot  and  build  a  house,  and  now  having  my  own 
school  room  I  went  back  to  my  favorite  business  again 
and  very  soon  had  a  large  select  school.  Toward  the 
end  of  1868  I  bought  another  lot  and  built  another 
house.  Now  many  of  the  Masons  began  to  flock 
around  me,  a  new  lodge,  Keystone,  was  organized  in 
1869,  and  nothing  else  would  do  but  I  must  join  it. 
Waiting  till  they  received  their  charter  from  the  Grand 
Lodge,  I  sent  for  my  demit  to  Harrington  Lodge  at 
Quebec  and  was  admitted  a  member  of  Keystone 
Lodge  No.  639.  I  was  working  hard  at  my  school, 
was  making  money  fast,  was  not  a  Christian  and 
thought  the  lodge  would  be  an  enjoyable  place  to  spend 
an  evening.  At  first  I  became  a  Mason  from  curiosity 
and  now  in  1870  I  joined  Keystone  Lodge  No.  639, 
Chicago,  for  sociability. 

Not  long  after  I  became  a  member  of  Keystone,  the 
secretary  eloped  with  another  Mason's  wife  thus  leav 
ing  the  secretary's  desk  vacant  and  I  was  at  once  ap 
pointed  to  the  position  until  the  annual  election  in  De 
cember. 

In  the  winter  of  1870  I  bought  another  lot  and  built 
another  house,  a  large  3-story  and  basement  which 
we  rented  in  May,  1871,  and  now  I  was  more  than  in 
dependent  having  $90  per  month  in  rent  besides  my 
school,  which  brought  me  $100  per  month  more,  but 
on  the  8th  and  9th  of  October,  1871,  the  great  fire  of 
Chicago  ocurred,  and  every  thing  I  owned  except  our 
every  day  clothes  and  the  vacant  lots  went  up  in  smoke. 
I  was  at  once  appointed  a  member  of  the  "Board  of 
Masonic  Relief,'  and  in  December  of  that  year,  was 


374  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

elected  Senior    Warden  of  my    lodge,  in    December 

1872,  was  elected  Worshipful  Master,  and  was  now  by 
virtue  of  my  office  a  member  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Illinois  and  hence  in  a  position  to  learn  the  practical 
workings  of  Masonry. 

As  a  member  of  the  Masonic  Board  of  Relief,  I  at 
tended  all  of  its  meetings  from  its  first  organization 
to  its  close  on  June  24,  1872.  During  that  time  the 
Executive  Committee— the  Illinois  Grand  Master  and 
Harry  Duval — received  $90,641  for  the  relief  of  their 
burned-out  brother  Masons  and  the  widows  and  or 
phans  of  deceased  Masons,  but  of  that  amount  they 
stole  $60,000  to  buy  hoodwinks,  halters,  aprons,  draw 
ers,  etc.,  and  to  re-establish  Masonic  lodges.  The  poor 
burned  out  Masons  may  starve  but  Masonry  must  be 
kept  up.  And  aside  from  that  outrage  Harmon  G. 
Reynolds  the  Past  Grand  Master  stole  $481.  I  pre 
ferred  charges  against  him  in  open  Grand  Lodge  in 

1873,  but  being  a  "high  Mason"  his  fellow  grafters  al 
lowed  him  to  go  scot  free.    Such  is  Free  Masonry. 

In  1873-4  there  were  six  Clandestine  lodges  of  Ma 
sons  in  Chicago,  today  the  country  is  full  of  them,  and 
men  are  visiting  lodges  and  practicing  Masonry  who 
were  never  initiated  in  either  the  regular  or  clandes- 
time  bodies,  and  yet  the  different  regular  lodges  keep 
right  on  selling  their  bogus  so-called  secrets  and  ob 
taining  money  under  false  pretenses.  At  the  annual 
Grand  Lodge  meeting  in  Chicago  in  1874,  I  intro 
duced  a  resolution  leading  to  a  discussion  of  the  fact 
that  a  committee  ought  to  be  appointed  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  to  inflict  one  of  the  Masonic  death  penalties  on 
each  of  the  six  regular  Masons  presiding  over  those 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  375 

Clandestine  lodges.  My  motion  was  voted  down  of 
course,  but  next  day  I  introduced  another  to  the  effect 
that  inasmuch  as  the  Masonic  Institution  dare  not  ex 
ecute  its  death  penalties  because  doing  so  would  be 
assasination,  therefore  that  immediate  steps  be  taken 
to  have  the  death  penalties  expunged  from  the  system. 
My  chief  object  was  to  impress  upon  the  members, 
how  false  they  acted  and  how  foolish  they  must  appear 
even  in  their  own  eyes,  to  be  swearing  candidates  un 
der  penalties  of  death  that  they  dare  not  inflict,  but  I 
received  a  most  decided  rebuff.  The  Grand  Senior 
Warden,  Joe  Robbins  of  Quincy,  Illinois,  declaring 
''Most  Worshipful  Grand  Master,  if  we  do  away  with 
the  penalty  what  becomes  of  the  sign,"  at  the  same 
time  drawing  his  right  hand  across  his  throat. 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  an  accident  no  matter  what 
people  may  say  or  think,  "All  things  are  of  God ;"  I 
knew  that  Masonry  is  a  "lie  all  over,"  its  oaths  obliga 
tions  and  death  penalties  illegal  and  inhuman  and  my 
first  intention  was  to  drop  out  quietly  and  let  the  mis 
erable  swindle  severely  alone,  but  God  had  ordered 
otherwise  and  so  on  the  last  Wednesday  in  October, 
1'8 74,  meeting  one  of  the  members  on  his  way  to  the 
lodge  he  urged  me  to  accompany  him,  I  went  along, 
and  that  night  in  the  hall  of  Keystone  Lodge  No.  639 
Chicago,  I  gave  my  first  lecture  against  Masonry  be 
fore  a  room  full  of  Masons.  They  listened  attentively 
to  the  end  but  when  I  sat  down  bedlam  broke  loose, 
the  meeting  was  closed  between  one  and  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  We  all  went  down  stairs  together, 
talked  awhile  on  the  sidewalk  about  what  I  was  doing, 
said  "good  night"  all  round,  and  I  was  out  of  Free- 


376  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

masonry  for  ever.  I  at  once  set  about  writing  the 
"Hand  Book"  referred  to  elsewhere,  but  two  of  the 
members  of  the  lodge,  David  Lally  and  William  Aiken 
the  Tyler  and  Secretary  respectively  urged  me  again 
and  again  to  work  the  Masonic  degrees  publicly  and 
so  announcing  a  meeting  to  be  held  in  my  own  school 
room  I  conferred  the  three  degrees  of  Masonry  pub 
licly  on  John  Trainor,  and  from  that  night  on  till  his 
death  poor  Trainor  was  called  "Ronayne's  goat." 
What  I  did  that  night  was  an  unheard  of  thing,  the 
Chicago  papers  were  full  of  it,  and  soon,  urgent  calls 
came  from  all  over  this  country  and  Canada  to  have 
the  Masonic  degrees  publicly  exemplified.  But  had  I 
been  a  Christian  in  those  early  days  of  1875,  how  de 
lightful  and  easy  would  have  been  my  work.  I  was 
exposing  Masonry  because  I  saw  it  was  a  glaring 
fraud,  its  illegal  oaths  and  signs  of  distress  almost 
daily  used  in  the  court  room  and  on  the  witness  stand 
to  turn  justice  aside  and  to  free  the  criminal  if  a  Ma 
son,  but  through  the  riches  of  God's  boundless  grace 
in  the  winter  of  1875-6  at  one  of  Mr.  Moody's  meet 
ings,  and  from  Isa :  53  :6,  he  revealed  to  me  what  the 
Lord  Jesus  His  only  begotten  Son  had  done  for  me. 
That  precious  passage  from  God's  word  exactly  suited 
my  case,  and  it  also  suits  the  case  of  every  man  and 
woman  in  the  world — "The  Lord  laid  on  Him  the  in 
iquity  of  us  all," — Blessed  be  God  He  did  and  He  laid 
on  Him  my  iniquities  and  I  say  through  grace  that 
"He  loved  me  and  gave  Himself  for  me."  (Gal  2:20.) 
From  that  time  on  there  was  an  added  motive  for 
publicly  working  the  Masonic  degrees.  At  first  I  re 
nounced  the  system  because  I  had  proved  that  it  is  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  377 

most  cunning  and  consummate  swindle  of  modern 
times,  but  now  I  was  exposing  it  because  of  its  utterly 
pagan  and  anti-Christian  character.  And  so  for  six 
years  I  worked  the  Masonic  degrees  in  almost  every 
city  and  town  in  the  Northern  States  and  Canada,  be 
fore  immense  audiences  and  tens  of  thousands  were 
kept  out  of  Masonry  while  thousands  more  were  made 
free  indeed  through  the  power  of  truth.  My  school 
of  course  was  closed,  thus  shutting  off  my  main  source 
of  income  for  the  support  of  my  family,  and  from  the 
first  day  that  I  worked  the  Masonic  degrees  publicly 
until  the  present  I  have  been  the  subject  of  Masonic 
boycott  and  hatred. 

The  Masonic  preachers  being  worse  in  that  respect 
than  their  fellow  Masons.  But  God  who  has  cared  for 
me  all  these  long  eventful  7G  years  of  my  life  will  care 
for  me  to  the  end.  My  creed  is  the  eighth  chapter  of 
Romans,  and  my  only  regret  in  these  lost  days  of  my 
busy  life  is,  that  I  did  not  know  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
before  I  became  a  bound  Mason. 

Freemasonry  was  concocted  in  a  low  grog  shop, — 
the  apple  Tree  Tavern, — in  London,  in  1717,  and  from 
that  time  to  this  the  saloon  curse  and  the  Masonic 
curse  have  gone  on  side  by  side,  so  that  today  one  of 
the  main  supports  of  the  liquor  traffic  is  Freemasonry. 
To  be  convinced  of  this  you  have  only  to  watch  the 
Triennial  conclaves  of  the  Knights  Templar  and  the 
so-called  banquets  of  the  Blue  Lodge  and  the  Chapter, 
all  simply  nothing  more  or  less  than  drunken  de 
bauches.  May  the  Lord  enable  you  to  smash  both 
the  saloon  and  the  lodge  is  the  earnest  prayer  of  your 
brother  in  Christ.  E.  RONAYNE. 


378  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 


SECRECY  AND  SIN. 

The  shield  of  sin  is  secrecy.  Wrong  seeks  conceal 
ment.  The  doers  of  mischief  preface  or  conclude  theii 
work  with  "Don't  you  tell."  From  the  mischievous 
boys  who  plot  their  raids  on  orchards  and  melon  patch 
es  to  the  stock  speculators  who  engineer  their  "cor 
ners"  and  swindle  the  unwary,  the  religious  dema 
gogues  who  control  and  mismanage  the  trusts  commit 
ted  to  them,  the  low  politicians  who  plot  in  caucuses 
or  defeat  honest  elections  by  villainous  counting  out, 
the  organized  banditti  which  fill  ill-governed  countries 
with  terror,  or  the  bands  of  pirates  who  redden  the 
seas  with  blood — the  bond  of  secrecy  is  the  seal  and 
protection  under  which  mischief  and  villainy  is  con 
cocted  and  concealed. 

We  are  to  distinguish  between  that  which  is  private, 
and  that  which  is  secret.  There  are  private  affairs  in 
which  the  world  at  large  has  no  interest.  Personal 
affairs,  which  concern  our  own  business  transactions 
or  domestic  interests,  are  properly  considered  as  pri 
vate  matters.  They  are  not  secret,  but  they  are  things 
in  which  others  have  ordinarily  no  concern.  The  pri 
vacies  of  business  or  of  home  require  no  special  guard 
ianship,  each  sensible  person  usually  having  wit  enough 
to  hold  -his  tongue,  and  each  well-bred  person  know 
ing  enough  not  to  meddle  with  other  people's  busi 
ness;  but  when  there  are  family  secrets  and  business 
secrets  there  are  frequently  wrongs,  and  sins,  and  sor 
rows,  and  skeletons  which  must  be  concealed. 

But  in  the  world  at  large  systems  of  organized  se- 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.    NATION.  379 

crecy  are  presumably  wrong.  There  can  be  nothing 
private  in  a  matter  wjiich  is  known  to  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  people.  It  can  by  no  possibility  be  a  mat 
ter  of  personal  interest  if  it  requires  such  wide  con 
cealment.  It  would  therefore  seem  to  be  a  secret,  a 
conspiracy,  a  wrong.  Thus  rebellions,  insurrections, 
murders  and  various  plots  of  villainy  frequently  be 
come  widespread  under  the  cloak  of  secrecy. 

There  are  various  secret  combinations  which  obtain 
great  currency,  and  are  held  in  high  repute.  They 
have,  as  in  the  ancient  heathen  mysteries,  their  exoteric 
and  esorteric  instructions ;  that  is,  their  outside  and 
their  inside  teachings.  Outside  there  is  profession, 
pretension,  pomp,  fuss  and  feathers.  Inside  there  are 
oaths,  pledges,  obligations,  curses,  penalties  and 
threats,  coupled  with  grotesque  performances,  blas 
phemous  adjurations,  and  absurd  and  degrading  cere 
monies.  What  can  be  the  object  of  all  these  perform 
ances,  veiled  under  an  impenetrable  cloud  of  secrecy? 

We  have  known  persons  who  have  shut  themselves 
up  to  study  and  work,  and  at  the  close  of  their  seclu 
sion  have  come  forth  with  some  grand  discovery,  some 
new  invention,  something  which  has  wrought  a  me 
chanical,  financial  or  social  revolution  in  the  world; 
and  we  have  recognized  the  propriety  and  wisdom  of 
the  seclusion  which  bore  such  fruit  as  that;  but  here 
are  men  who  year  after  year  have  met  in  secret  and 
performed  their  mysterious  rites,  and  have  parted,  and 
what  good  have  they  done?  What  discoveries  have 
they  made  ?  What  inventions  have  they  produced  ? 
What  have  they  to  show  as  the  result  of  all  their  secret 
plotting  and  endeavoring  ?  Have  they  discovered  any- 


380  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

thing  which  the  world  did  not  possess  before?  Have 
they  done  anything  which  was  worth  doing,  which  had 
not  been  done  before,  and  done  a  thousand  times  ?  Is 
their  work  a  work  of  charity?  Charity  needs  no  se 
crecy.  Is  it  the  inculcation  of  principles  of  wisdom 
and  knowledge?  There  is  no  need  of  oaths  and  obli 
gations  in  such  a  case,  for  every  one  who  receives  wis 
dom  and  knowledge  is  bound  by  the  strictest  obliga 
tions  to  convey  the  same  to  those  around  him.  Have 
they  succeeded  in  making  men  better  fathers  and 
brothers,  better  citizens  and  better  Christians  than  can 
be  produced  by  any  other  means?  In  a  word,  there 
is  no  necessity  for  such  concealments  and  obligations 
unless  it  be  the  necessity  caused  by  sin. 

Suppose,  for  example,  that  a  church  should  be  or 
ganized,  at  the  door  of  which  stood  men  with  drawn 
swords,  and  of  which  no  person  could  become  a  mem 
ber  unless  he  first  consented  on  bended  knee  to  take 
an  oath,  of  the  purport  of  which  he  knew  and  could 
know  nothing  until  it  was  administered  to  him  sentence 
by.  sentence,  while  in  a  helpless  condition.  How  long 
would  such  a  church  be  tolerated  in  the  community? 
Suppose  also,  that  it  limited  its  membership  to  persons 
of  one  sex,  excluding  the  young,  the  aged,  the  penniless 
and  the  crippled,  taking  in  only  the  ablebodied  and 
prosperous,  who  were  decked  with  barbaric  trappings, 
and  marched  around  for  public  exhibition  on  galadays ; 
how  long  would  such  a  church  be  tolerated  in  the  land  ? 
Would  not  its  ostentatious  secrecy  be  in  itself  an  evi 
dence  that  there  was  something  radically  wrong  in  its 
conception  f  Would  not  the  world  at  large  scout  such 
an  establishment,  and  denounce  it  as  a  fraud  and  an 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  381 

outrage  on  the  community  at  large?  But  if  it  were 
found,  in  addition  to  this,  that  the  men  who  were  thus 
pompously  exhibiting  themselves  before  the  commun 
ity  managed  to  secure  nearly  all  the  public  offices  to 
which  other  citizens  were  equally  eligible ;  that  they 
were  by  mysterious  means  extricated  from  difficulties 
acquitted  of  criminal  charges,  and  exempted  from  the 
ordinary  burdens  and  responsibilities  of  the  commun 
ity  around  them,  would  not  the  conclusion  he  speedily 
reached  that  their  secret  church,  with  all  its  boasts  of 
advantages,  was  selfish,  unpatriotic  and  un-Christian, 
and  thus  unworthy  of  the  countenance  and  toleration 
of  Christian  men?  Nor  would  any  pretensions  to 
benevolence,  wisdom,  or  superior  excellence,  for  a 
moment  weigh  against  this  conclusion.  For  none  of 
these  things  require  such  secret  preparations  and  ob 
ligations.  Hence,  the  very  fact  that  secrecy  is  invoked 
and  employed  for  the  furtherance  of  the  object,  is  in 
itself  a  most  suspicious  circumstance.  Our  Saviour, 
when  he  came  into  this  world,  taught  in  public  and  in 
private,  but  not  in  secret.  He  taught  the  multitudes 
in  public,  by.  parables  and  simple  illustrations.  He 
taught  his  disciples  in  private,  opening  and  expound 
ing  all  things  to  them  in  answer  to  their  questions. 
But  he  said  to  them,  "What  I  tell  you  in  darkness,  that 
speak  ye  in  light,  and  what  ye  hear  in  the  ear  that  pub 
lish  ye  upon  the  housetops."— (Matt.  10:27.)  He 
commanded  them  to  proclaim  wherever  they  went  the 
things  concerning  which  he  had  given  them  instruc 
tion  privately ;  and  when  he  was  interrogated  concern 
ing  his  doctrine,  he  fell  back  on  no  obligation  of  se 
crecy  to  justify  his  refusal  to  answer  the  questions 


382  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

which  were  propounded,  but  he  distinctly  said:  "I 
spake  openly  to  the  world;  I  ever  taught  in  the  syna 
gogue  and  in  the  temple  whither  the  Jews  always  re 
sort,  and  in  secret  have  I  said  nothing.  Why  askest 
thou  me  ?  Ask  them  which  heard  me,  what  I  have  said 
unto  them:  behold,  they  know  what  I  said." — (John 
18  :20,  21.  His  teaching  was  open ;  all  interested  were 
welcome  to  hear  the  words  which  he  spake.  There 
was  nothing  there  to  be  concealed.  It  is  also  declared 
that  "God  shall  bring  every  work  into  judgment,  with 
every  secret  thing,  whether  it  be  good  or  whether  it 
be  evil."  (Eccl.  12:14)  ;  that  not  only  the  secrets  of 
men's  lives,  but  also  "the  counsels  of  the  hearts  shall 
be  made  manifest"  (I  Cor.  4:5)  in  the  great  revealing 
day. 

What  possible  utility  then  can  there  be  in  organizing 
vast  systems  whose  only  bond  is  secrecy?  If  they  have 
anything  good,  why  not  fling  it  forth  to  the  world  and 
bless  mankind  thereby?  What  have  they  accomplish 
ed?  For  years  and  years  secret  fraternities  have  as 
sembled  and  performed,  and  have  strutted  about  in 
plumes  and  regalia,  and  what  have  they  done?  What 
inventions  have  they  perfected  ?  What  scheme  for  the 
amelioration  of  human  misery  have  they  inaugurated? 
What  institutions  of  learning  and  philanthropy  have 
they  founded?  What  reforms  have  they  effected? 
What  have  they  to  show  for  all  their  pomp  and  pre 
tensions?  Surely  the  world  has  a  right  to  ask  these 
questions. 

The  Church  of  Christ  is  doing  her  work  in  the 
world.  There  are  no  obligations  of  secrecy,  no  con 
cealments,  no  darkened  rooms  nor  guarded  doors  to 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  383 

hide  the  work  she  does.  She  feeds  the  hungry,  she 
clothes  the  naked,  she  ministers  to  the  sick,  she  lifts 
up  the  bowed  down,  she  instructs  the  erring,  she 
guides  the  perplexed,  she  warns  the  unruly,  she  com 
forts  the  mourner,  she  founds  hospitals  and  colleges 
and  academies  and  schools,  she  promotes  reforms,  she 
testifies  against  evils,  she  produces  and  disseminates 
wholesome  literature,  she  scatters  light  and  truth  on 
every  hand.  Her  work  is  open,  and  it  shows  for  itself 
what  she  has  done  and  why  she  does  it.  As  compared 
with  this,  what  have  votaries  of  secretism  to  exhibit? 
Gaudy  paraphernalia,  pompous  processions,  medieval 
uniforms,  magnificent  buildings  from  which  the  public 
are  rigorously  excluded,  midnight  conclaves,  secret 
grips,  mysterious  passwords,  and  a  jumble  of  philan 
thropy,  piety  and  profanity,  all  of  which  is  guarded  by 
oaths  and  obligations  and  penalties  so  shocking  and 
absurd  that  their  revelation  invariably  puts  their  votar 
ies  in  a  rage ;  and  this  is  all.  Or,  if  there  is  anything 
more  than  this,  it  is  craft  and  guile,  the  plotting  of  se 
cret  mischief  and  the  wielding  of  power  by  irresponsi 
ble  despots,  for  objects  which  cannot  bear  the  light  of 
day. 

Let  Christian  men  maintain  their  integrity  and  in 
dependence  ;  let  them  stand  for  God  though  they  stand 
alone.  If  worldlings  will  be  bound  together  like  tares 
"in  bundles  to  be  burned,"  let  Christians  spurn  the  un 
holy  associations  and  stand  separate  from  sin,  waiting 
for  the  great  day  of  the  Lord. 

Since  I  came  out  of  secret  societies,  I  have  several 
times  had  to  face  the  question,  "Why  did  you  drop  the 
secret  societies  ?"  My  first  answer  is,  "The  secret  so- 


384  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

ciety  is  no  place  for  a  Christian  to  be."  To  be  a  Chris 
tian  one  must  be  Christ-like;  and  no  person  can  be 
like  Christ  if  he  goes  where  Christ  cannot  go.  God's 
word  says :  "If  they  shall  say  unto  you,  Behold,  He  is 
in  the  secret  chambers;  believe  it  not."  (Matt.  24:26.) 
Again,  in  Gen.  49  :6,  we  find  this  statement,  "O  my 
soul,  come  not  thou  into  their  secret;  unto  their  as 
sembly,  mine  honor,  be  not  thou  united  (with  them)  ! 
for  in  their  anger  they  slew  a  man,  and  in  their  self- 
will  they  digged  down  a  wall." 

Now  let  me  ask,  How  about  Morgan  ?  And  do  you 
not  think  that  the  "wall"  here  referred  to,  represents 
God's  Law?  It  was  a  protection  in  those  days,  and 
should  be  today.  But  it  is  set  aside  by  the  oath-bound 
men  who  have  respect  for  the  lodge  brothers,  while 
God  says  in  James  2  :9 :  "If  ye  have  respect  to  persons, 
ye  cannot  sin,  and  are  convinced  of  the  law  as  trans 
gressors." 

The  Masons  tell  me  that  if  I  live  according  to  the 
teachings  of  Masonry  I  will  be  sure  to  go  to  Heaven. 
But  I  know  there  is  no  salvation  from  Sin  outside  of 
Christ,  and  that  Christ  is  never  in  Masonry. 

They  also  say  that  King  Solomon  was  a  Mason.  Be 
cause  he  built  the  Temple  is  no  proof  that  he  was  a  Se 
cret  Society  man;  but  if  Masonry  started  with  the 
builder  of  the  Temple,  the  rejection  of  Christ  by  Ma 
sonry  started  then ;  and  if  this  be  true,  no  wonder  that 
the  later  rulers  of  the  Temple  rejected  Him.  "Who 
soever  denieth  the  Son,  the  same  hath  not  the  Father." 
(I  John  2:23.)  So  you  see  that  if  we  shut  Jesus  out, 
we  shut  out  God  also.  Our  God  is  a  jealous  God,  and 
His  honor  He  will  not  give  to  another.  The  great 

24 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  385 

apostle  said  that  he  was  determined  to  know  nothing 
among  us,  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified;  so 
now  ,  my  Christian  brothers,  "Come  out  from  among 
them  (secret  workers)  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the 
Lord." 

Gastonia,  N.  C.  M.  W.  MOORE. 

Any  one  wishing  to  know  the  secret  workings  of 
any  lodge,  write  to  the  Cynosure,  Chicago,  Illinois. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

MY   TRIP  TO   SCOTLAND   AND     ENGLAND. MY     HOME   IN 

THE  OZARKS. FUTURE   PLANS. 

In  the  summer  of  1908,  when  the  Prohibition  Con 
vention  met  at  Columbus,  Ohio  to  nominate  a  Presi 
dent,  I  was  there  and  was  made  a  delegate  from  Wash 
ington,  D.  C.  At  that  convention  I  met  Mr.  E.  Scryn- 
geour,  the  organizing  secretary  of  the  Prohibition 
party  of  Dundee  Scotland.  He  was  sent  over  to  in 
vestigate  Prohibition  in  America.  He  asked  me  if  I 
would  come  over  to  Scotland,  and  I  told  him  I  would. 
When  he  went  home  his  executive  authorized  him  to 
secure  me  for  a  campaign  beginning  in  November.  He 
asked  my  terms.  I  told  him  I  would  pay  my  expenses 
and  he  could  secure  houses  and  give  me  two-thirds  of 
the  receipts.  I  knew  they  were  poor,  as  Prohibition 
ists  generally  are.  I  made  terms  that  would  entail  on 
them,  as  I.  thought,  no  expense.  I  sailed  from  New 
York  to  Glasgow  the  latter  part  of  November,  and  be- 


38G  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

gan  my  campaign  in  Dundee.  The  Prohibition  party 
of  Scotland  was  organized  about  8  years  ago  in  Dun 
dee.  Since  that  time  they  have  returned  two  members 
to  the  council  and  one  to  the  school  board.  They 
nominated  a  member  of  Parliament  who  got  665  votes. 
I  spoke  at  Edinburgh,  Aberdeen,  Perth,  Lochgelly, 
Autermucty,  and  many  other  towns,  staying  three 
weeks  in  Glasgow.  Many  new  branches  were  organ 
ized.  I  then  went  down  into  England  speaking  in 
New  Castle,  Leceister,  Manchester,  and  other  towns, 
and  was  in  London  for  six  weeks.  A  very  important 
suburb  of  London  is  called  Croydon.  Two  sisters,  the 
Misses  Reep,  very  brave,  courageous  women  who  had 
an  anti-tobacco  organization  and  other  good  work  in 
spite  of  great  opposition  wrote  me  to  come  down  to 
Croydon.  We  had  very  successful  meetings.  Also  at 
Westcliff-on-sea,  Rev.  Waller  wrote  me  to  come  that 
he  had  a  hall.  We  had  fine  meetings  there  also,  or 
ganizing  branches  at  both  of  these  places.  The  last 
three  weeks  in  England  I  was  overwhelmed  with  calls 
for  dates,  which  I  could  not  fill.  My  last  meeting  was 
in  Liverpool.  I  had  two  overflows  and  delivered  three 
addresses,  before  I  took  the  ship  next  day.  I  find 
Scotch  people  much  more  independent  than  English 
people.  There  is  so  much  conventionality  in  England 
that  you  rarely  find  any  person  brave  enough  to  say 
and  do  anything  that  has  not  been  said  or  done 
before.  The  best  indication  of  better  conditions  against 
the  stagnation  of  thought  and  action  in  Britain  is  the 
suffragette  movement,  a  movement  which  is  bound  to 
result  in  good. 

Britain  is  cursed  with  that  House  of    Lords,     (a 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  387 

house  of  frauds  would  be  more  truthful).  Some  of  the 
biggest  Lords  are  the  biggest  brewers.  If  Anheuser 
Busch  lived  in  England  he  could  buy  a  peerage  and 
be  a  lord.  Very  vicious  conditions  have  been  brought 
about  by  these  so-called  Lords  in  giving  the  publican 
a  title  to  a  permission  to  sell  liquor.  When  a  publican 
purchases  a  license,  he  purchases  the  right  to  run  the 
business  as  long  as  he  conforms  to  the  conditions  spe 
cified.  This  was  done  to  put  a  stumbling  block  in  the 
way  of  Prohibition,  so  that,  should  any  locality  wish 
to  close  the  bad  business,  they  would  have  to  purchase 
from  the  publican  his  title,  having  to  pay,  in  many  in 
stances,  many  thousands  of  dollars.  In  the  book  of 
Truth  we  read  that  the  Gentiles  or  heathens  have 
"Lords  many  and  Gods  many,"  but  we  know  there  is 
but  one  Lord,  Jesus  Christ.  I  told  them  in  my  lectures 
that  I  was  glad  that  I  lived  in  a  land  where  we  had  but 
one  Lord,  Jesus. 

The  drunkenness  among  the.  women  there  is  on  the 
increase.  I  went  into  one  publican's  place  where  I 
saw  nine  babies.  One  can  imagine  the  number  of  wo 
men  there  would  be.  There  are  more  women  selling 
liquor  than  men.  The  drunkenness  among  women  has 
come  about  largely  by  the  license  grocers.  They  begin 
at  the  licensed  grocery  and  end  at  the  publican's  place. 
The  poverty,  filth  and  neglect  of  home,  through  drunk 
en  mothers  have  brought  about  an  alarming  state  of 
infant  mortality.  Mothers  will  pawn  the  clothes  of 
their  children  and  husbands  for  drink.  It  is  impossi 
ble  to  bring  about  reform  from  these  terrible  condi 
tions  until  the  liquor  traffic  is  prohibited.  Alas  when 
I  returned  to  America  I  have  to  witness  the  shame  of 


388  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

seeing  women  behind  the  tobacco  bars  selling  that 
which  makes  men  tobacco  drunk.  A  woman's  proper 
place  is  by  man's  side  as  a  help-meet.  When  she  is  in 
a  position  to  seduce  or  induce  him  to  sin  she  is  a  fallen 
woman.  A  traveling  man  of  experience  said  to  me, 
"Carry  Nation  you  are  right  to  condemn  these  women 
for  selling  tobacco.  They  may  begin  all  right,  but  they 
will  not  end  all  right."  Tis  a  vicious  motive  in  hotels 
and  other  parties  that  will  sacrifice  the  chastity  of  a 
woman  that  they  may  increase  the  sale  of  this  poison. 
God  grant  that  the  time  may  soon  come  when  it  will 
be  a  sin  to  raise  tobacco  and  men  may  cease  their 
"filthiness  and  superfluity  of  naughtiness." 

I  found  the  Prohibition  party  very  weak  in  London 
and  could  not  arrange  anything  with  them,  but  I  took 
engagements  at  the  music  halls,  (the  name  they  give 
to  theatres).  I  was  to  speak  at  the  Canterbury  and 
Paragon.  The  publicans  secured  the  front  seats,  sup 
plied  themselves  with  eggs,  and  when  I  made  my  ap 
pearance  they  began  to  throw  them  on  the  stage  and 
at  me.  The  manager  called  me  off  and  canceled  my 
engagement.  There  was  some  laughing  and  light  talk 
ing  about  this  matter  through  the  papers,  etc.,  but  my 
side  of  the  story  was  this,  that  no  woman  would  have 
been  treated  that  way  on  any  stage  in  America.  I 
made  it  public  that  American  men  had  more  respect 
for  women  than  English  men.  That  English  women 
were  safer  in  America  than  American  women  in  Eng 
land. 

It  is  universal  there  that  women  black  the  mens' 
boots  and  shoes.  I  stayed  all  night  at  a  place  where  a 
young  gentleman  had  come  to  visit  the  young  lady  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  389 

her  brother.  The  next  morning  I  saw  the  young  lady 
blacking  the  young  man's  shoes.  The  women  get  up 
first  in  the  morning  and  kindle  the  fires.  I  never 
saw  such  nervous  women  in  my  life  as  there  are  in 
Britain.  Their  conversation  seems  effected ;  their  voices 
are  high  and  they  use  the  rising  inflection ;  for  instance, 
we  say,  "Thank  you"  with  a  falling  effect,  they  say 
"Thank  you"  with  the  rising  effect.  Saying  the  "you" 
much  louder.  I  believe  the  reason  of  this  is  the  tea 
drinking.  Nearly  every  man,  woman  and  child  is  a  tea 
fiend  in  Britain.  It  is  nothing  for  them  to  drink  three 
and  four  cups  of  tea  at  a  meal.  They  always  use  black 
tea. 

Although  Scotland  is  cursed  with  drink  and  poverty, 
I  met  some  of  the  most  generous  and  warm  hearted 
people  I  ever  knew.  The  Scotch  people  gave  me  many 
presents  and  expressed  so  much  gratitude  to  me  for 
coming.  Oh !  what  a  nation  of  noble  giants  the  Scotch 
people  would  have  been  had  it  not  been  for  liquor  and 
tobacco!  Their  equals  could  not  be  found  on  earth. 
The  Scotch  and  Irish  immigrants  schooled  in  adversity 
and  strong  in  faith  were  the  very  class  our  country 
needed  in  the  beginning  because  they  were  best  fitted 
for  laying  the  foundation  of  this  great  government. 
God  hasten  the  day  when  we  will  have  at  Washington 
City  a  president  that  will  have  a  bill  introduced  into 
Congress  to  have  the  license  to  sell  liquor  abolished. 
What  a  retribution  is  in  store  for  Joe  Cannon,  who 
ought  to  apologize  to  every  citizen  for  being  out  of 
Hades!  He  is  there  like  a  roaring  Lion  and  will  not 
allow  any  discussion  to  prohibit  drink. 

The  Scotch  people  at  my  meetings  would  ask  me  to 


390  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

explain  "Why  Christ  made  wine?"  I  had  a  time  ex 
plaining  that  our  Saviour  was  a  Nazarite  or  prohibi 
tionist  and  made  the  non-intoxicating  wine.  It  would 
certainly  be  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  go  there 
in  the  summer  time.  But  the  climate  is  damp  and  cold, 
and  the  houses  are  poorly  heated.  There  is  one  thing 
I  wish  America  would  imitate  England  in,  people  do 
not  chew  gum  there.  In  licensing  the  saloon  we  inmi- 
tated  England.  In  prohibiting  the  saloon  England  will 
have  to  imitate  us.  Below  I  give  the  verses  written  by 
a  gentleman  in  England. 

CARRY  NATION. 

(From  London  Times.} 
The  world  is  full  of  mysteries  that  stir  the  heart  and 

brain ; 

Drink's  dogmas  of  divinity,  are  ridiculed  and  slain. 
A  voice  floats  from  the  firmament,  man  must  be  born 

again 

Of  woman,  as  the  source  of  his  salvation. 
Awake  ye  slumbering  sentinels,  say,  what  you  hear 

and  see, 

A  female  form  of  majesty,  with  truth's  resistless  plea ; 
The  hapless  drunkard's  champion,  behold  her !  there  is 

she, 
The  dauntless  Heaven-appointed,  Carry  Nation. 

Let  us  purge  polluted  cities,   of  slum-life    vile   anr1 

gross ; 
The  wealthy  ones  must  face  the  work,  nor  count  such 

labour  loss, 

Nor  shirk  responsibility  'neath  shadow  of  the  cross ; 
Heaven  pardons  none  because  of  wealth  or  station. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  391 

Lo!  ye  wretched  city    dwellers,  see    the    light    come 

streaming  down, 
Not  on  vesture  of  the  churchman,  but    on    woman's 

simple  gown, 
Yea !  on  her's  whose  words  are  destined  to  electrify  the 

town, 
The  dauntless,  Heaven-appointed,  Carry  Nation. 

The  drunkard's  child  is  jubilant,  the  drunkard's  wife 
is  glad; 

For  men  shall  flee  "hell-palaces,"  who  went  there  rav 
ing  mad. 

And  smiles  shall  light  the    countenance,    that    drink 

made  grim  and  sad. 
Faith !  faith  and  hope,  ensure  such  reformation. 

Onward,  march,  thou  great  enchantress !  where  thou 
art  love  shall  be ; 

We  know  from  ev'ry  battlefield,  thine    enemies    shall 
flee. 

Thou  monarch  in  the  multitude !  God's  angels  are  with 

thee! 
The  dauntless,  Heaven-appointed,  Carry  Nation. 

Hail,  all  hail,  hope's  joyful  morning!  see  symbol  in  the 

sky, 

The  sign  of  love  made  manifest,  for  all  who  drink  defy. 
Hut,  look  you!  threatening  thunder-clouds  for  those 

who  still  deny, 

The  wondrous  evolutions  in  creation. 
Sing  aloud  then,  and  rejoice !  send  the  children  out  to 

play, 
For  the  Lord  has  heard  the  pleadings  of  the  righteous 

of  to-dav. 


392  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

Yes !  His  messenger  predestined  to  lead  and  clear  the 

way! 
The  dauntless,  Heaven-appointed,  Carry  Nation. 


MRS.  CARRY  NATION :  A  VINDICATION. 
(Copied  from  the  Prohibitionist  of  Dundee.) 

Sir: — London  is  awakening  to  the  fact  that  in  its 
midst  is  a  remarkable  personality:  a  woman  whose 
sole  message  is,  "Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  and  because 
the  messenger  speaks  with  an  authority  from  heaven 
this  modern  Nineveh  is  so  steeped  in  its  vices  that  the 
the  voice  is  like  one  crying  in  the  wilderness.  The 
churches  feared,  the  Press  ridiculed,  the  Metropolis, 
true  to  itself,  was  indifferent.  After  a  month's  sojourn 
amongst  us  this  state  of  things  is  becoming  changed, 
and  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the 
truth,  is  penetrating  the  mountains  of  prejudice,  and 
even  ministers  of  the  Gospel  realize  that  God's  meth 
ods,  whilst  sometimes  inscrutable,  are  always  availing. 

Mrs.  Carry  A  Nation  has  found  a  hearty  response 
wherever  an  open  door  has  been  provided,  possessing 
those  qualities  which  Britishers  justly  claim  a  prefer 
ence  for — truth,  a  dauntless  courage  in  proclaiming  its 
power  to  others,  and  always  appealing  to  the  human 
judgment  for  its  enforcement  at  whatever  cost.  Multi 
tudes  will  thank  God  for  her  life,  her  book,  and  even 
the  hatchet,  which  influences  enormously  the  young 
mind  in  its  suggestiveness,  viz.,  that  all  evils  must  be 
attacked  at  the  root  to  be  effectual. 

Prohibitionists  welcome  her  as  the  greatest  expon 
ent  of  its  principle  that  has  ever  visited  Britain,  and 
we  appeal  to  the  people — do  your  own  thinking,  work 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  393 

out  the  material  salvation  of  our  country  upon  lines 
which  we  have  inherited  and  determine  to  maintain; 
freedom  to  all  and  privilege  to  none;  and  in  selecting 
representatives  take  care  that  none  have  authority  who 
perpetuate  the  crime  by  enslaving  the  community  to 
the  Drink  Curse. 

Electors!  rise  to  your  responsibilities,  break  the 
shackles  which  prevent  this  nation  taking  its  proper 
place  as  the  leader  in  the  van  of  freedom,  wipe  out  this 
blot  of  civilization,  solve  the  unemployed  problem,  and 
act  the  Christian  faith  by  votes  as  well  as  creed. 

Yours  truly,         NAPOLEON  S  HARM  AN. 
London  Road,  Southwark. 

230  Camberwell  New  Road, 
London,  S.  E.,  25th  January,  1909. 
To  Mrs.  Carry  Nation: — 

My  dear  Sister  in  Christ  I  am  glad  to  have  met  with 
such  a  "mad"  woman.  I  trust  you  will  bite  all  the 
ministers  in  London  and  make  them  as  mad  as  you 
are.  They  said  our  Lord  was  mad  and  Paul  was  mad. 
They  have  called  me  mad.  Ah  yes,  dear  Sister,  God 
requires  people  out-and-out  for  Him.  Six  months  ago 
I  had  to  leave  my  second  pastorate  because  I  was  thor 
ough  and  real  about  this  fearful  traffic,  Hell  filling, 
God  dishonouring,  and  soul  damning.  One  of  my  late 
deacons  came  and  insulted  me  while  drunk  one  night. 
On  the  22nd  February,  next  month,  I  shall  be  66  years 
of  age,  and  a  life-long  abstainer  from  lunatic  broth, 
tobacco,  snuff,  etc.  During  these  last  six  months  I  and 
my  large  family  have  suffered  many  privations,  but  I 
would  sooner  die  and  be  kicked  into  a  ditch  than  be 


394  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

mixed  up  in  the  works  of  the  devil.  Seven  times  I 
have  suffered  to  be  sent  to  prison  because  of  my  prin 
ciple  and  I  am  ready  to  be  burnt  if  need  be.  God  bless 
you,  keep  you  and  sustain  you,  is  the  prayer  of  yours 
in  the  fight  for  God  and  right. 

STEPHEN  SWIFT. 

I  did  a  little  bit  of  smashing  in  London,  I  was  riding 
in  one  of  those  under  ground  railways  (tubes,  they  are 
called  there),  in  the  car  was  a  very  vicious  advertise 
ment  intending  to  attract  the  attention  of  small  boys  to 
smoking  cigarettes.  I  said,  "That  ought  to  be  smash 
ed,  and  if  I  had  something  I  would  smash  it." 

A  lady  replied,  "Here  is  an  umbrella." 

With  this  I  smashed  the  glass  over  the  advertise 
ment.  The  conductor  asked  me  my  name,  and  stopping 
place.  I  gave  it  to  him  and  I  was  summoned  in  a  few 
days  to  appear  before  a  magistrate,  for  "willfully,  wan 
tonly  and  maliciously  "  destroying  property.  I  was 
my  own  attorney.  In  addressing  the  magistrates  in 
Britain  one  always  says  "your  worship,"  but  I  said 
"judge"  which  brought  forth  smiles  in  the  Court.  I 
told  him  I  was  going  to  try  my  ca-se  by  the  decisions 
of  the  Supreme  Court. 

He  said,  "We  do  not  have  the  decisions  of  the  courts 
of  America." 

"Oh !"  I  said,  "my  defense  is  the  decision  of  the 
Courts  of  Heaven,"  holding  up  my  Bible.  I  told  him 
among  other  things  that  I  wanted  all  Britain  to  hear 
a  denunciation  of  cigarettes,  and  cigarette  advertisers, 
and  this  was  the  best  way  I  knew  to  start  this  agita 
tion  against  the  dangerous  practice  of  smoking  them, 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  395 

as  it  would  condemn  the  man  for  putting  the  advertise 
ment  there,  and  would  also  condemn  the  railroad  for 
allowing  it  to  be  put  there.  He  was  very  kind  and 
only  fined  me  five  shillings  ($1.25),  the  cost  in  the  case 
was  30  shillings,  or  about  $8.00,  but  a  dear  friend  of 
mine  a  Scotchman,  Mr.  Roberts,  who  keeps  the  Cala- 
donian  Home  for  young  Scotchman  in  London,  24 
Gifford  St.,  paid  it  for  me. 

I  returned  home  in  March  of  1909.  There  was  a 
great  deal  of  drinking  on  the  ship.  I  remonstrated  in 
various  ways.  I  went  to  the  steward,  to  the  purser, 
and  from  the  purser  to  the  Captain,  telling  them  it  was 
an  insult  to  the  passengers  to  have  such  universal 
drinking,  especially  among  women,  some  of  them  act 
ing  very  indecently.  I  told  him  that  he  had  three 
places  on  the  ship  to  poison  the  passengers ;  first  cabin, 
second  cabin  and  steerage.  He  said  they  had  good  li 
quors.  I  said,  "No,  it  is  rotten  slop."  He  said,  "You 
had  better  keep  your  state  room  if  you  do  not  like  the 
way  things  are  conducted."  I  told  him  I  didn't  pay 
passage  to  be  a  prisoner  to  keep  from  seeing  his  drunk 
ards.  We  had  quite  a  little  quarrel.  The  result  was 
that  there  was  no  more  carrying  of  liquor  by  the  stew 
ards  to  the  women,  and  the  women  were  so  ashamed 
of  their  conduct  when  they  got  sober  they  kept  their 
state  rooms  three  days. 

I  had  a  dreadful  lesson  going  over  to  Scotland.  A 
very  nice  looking  man,  about  35  years  of  age  came 
aboard  in  New  York.  He  was  going  over  to  Ireland 
to  settle  an  estate.  I  had  quite  a  talk  with  him,  and 
told  him  that  he  was  in  danger  from  the  drink  habit. 
The  second  day  I  missed  him  at  the  table.  He  was 


396  THE   USE   AND    NEED  OF 

sick ;  the  third  day  he  had  delirium  tremens ;  the  fourth 
day  he  died;  and  the  fifth  day  I  saw  his  dead  body 
thrown  over-board. 

An  American  will  be  very  much  surprised  to  find 
concert  halls,  smoking  and  billiard  rooms  connected 
with  the  church  and  the  ministers  taking  part  in  these 
things.  In  Liverpool  the  Ministerial  Alliance  meets 
once  a  month,  and  the  ministers  indulge  in  wine,  bil 
liards  and  cards.  In  England  and  Scotland  I  met  many 
sincere  Christians  and  brave  Prohibitionists  who  real 
ize  the  conditions  in  England  to  be  exactly  as  they  are, 
and  they  are  eager  for  American  methods.  Britain, 
like  an  old  decrepid  mother,  is  looking  to  and  leaning 
upon  her  daughter  America. 

They  have  a  custom  in  Scotland  of  observing  the 
25th  of  January,  Burn's  birthday.  These  are  called 
"Burn's  Clubs,"  and  they  always  have  intoxicating  li 
quors.  This  custom  is  not  denounced  by  the  churches, 
but  is  indulged  in  by  the  ministers.  At  an  immense 
gathering  in  Glasgow  I  spoke  of  this  practice  in 
something  of  these  words :  "You  had  a  great  poet  in 
Scotland,  Robert  Burns.  His  pictures  are  everywhere. 
There  is  not  a  public  house  or  private  house  of  any 
kind  where  you  do  not  have  his  picture.  You  have  a 
desire  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  this  great  hearted, 
great  souled  man,  but  what  did  you  do  for  him  while 
he  was  living?  You  organized  clubs,  and  you  clubbed 
him  with  all  kinds  of  drink ;  you  clubbed  him  so  he  be 
came  a  pauper;  you  clubbed  him  until  he  became  an 
invalid  from  strong  drink;  and  at  the  age  of  37  you 
clubbed  him  into  a  drunkards  grave.  God  says  that 
"no  drunkard  can  inherit  eternal  life."  If  you  want  to 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  397 

honor  this  man,  the  last  thing  in  the  world  you  should 
do  is  to  bring  to  remembrance  that  which  caused  his 
ignomineous  death."  There  was  a  great  uproar,  some 
calling  "Curse  Carry  Nation,"  a  number  hissing. 

My  visit  to  Britain  has  been  a  great  blessing  to  me 
and  I  intend  to  make  it  a  blessing  to  others.  I  never 
saw  men  of  any  nation  superior  to  Scotchman,  they  im 
pressed  me  with  their  sincerity,  their  generosity,  and 
chivalry.  I  attribute  this  to  their  knowledge  of  God's 
Word,  as  the  Bible  is  the  best  authority  in  Scotland. 
One  cannot  help  but  notice  the  difference  between 
Scotchmen  and  Englishmen  in  this  particular  that 
Scotchman  appear  so  much  more  genuine  than  Eng 
lishmen,  they  are  more  respectful  to  their  wives,  and 
women  generally.  But  American  men  are  the  best 
husbands  in  the  world. 

What  a  people  Americans  ought  to  be !  So  blessed 
of  God !  And  what  a  blessing  America  has  been  to 
the  world.  There  is  a  substantial  upheaval  of  corrup 
tion.  People  are  seeing  the  bottom  and  the  revolu 
tion  is  here  to  stay.  We  have  wickedness,  vice,  skepti 
cism  and  blatant  infidelity.  But  victory  is  rising  about 
the  size  of  a  man's  hand,  and  faith  like  a  mustard  seed 
will  say  to  these  mountains,  "Be  thou  removed  and 
cast  into  oblivion." 

A  friend,  Mrs.  R.  D.  Ray,  the  real  estate  woman  of 
Eureka  Springs,  loaned  me  a  book  called  the  "Stone 
Kingdom."  She  said  in  doing  so,  "This  is  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  books  I  ever  read."  I  said,  "I  will 
get  one."  Then  she  told  me  it  was  out  of  print.  I 
read  the  book  through  twice  and  was  so  impressed 
with  the  great  merit  of  the  book  that  I  wrote  to  the 


398  THE    USE   AND   NEED   OF 

relatives  of  the  Rev.  Alexander,  the  author,  to  get  the 
right  to  publish  the  book  under  the  same  cover  with 
my  own,  so  that  it  could  do  its  great  mission  of  con 
vincing  the  people  of  the  Truth  of  the  Bible  and  the 
overruling  providence  of  God.  There  is  not  a  state  in 
the  Union  that  does  not  speak  out  of  the  dust,  telling 
us  that  there  once  lived  a  people  there  of  whom  we 
have  no  history.  There  was  a  time  when  fierce  wars 
were  fought  and  nations  or  tribes  were  exterminated. 
In  southern  Ohio,  near  Peobler,  on  a  high  elevation, 
there  is  what  is  called  a  snake  mound.  The  elevation 
of  several  feet  in  perfect  serpentine  coils  of  nearly  four 
hundred  feet,  is  witness  to  the  fact,  that  years  ago  the 
serpents  were  worshipped.  Evidences  of  human  sacri 
fices  are  there.  I  have  seen  much  of  the  phenominal 
in  my  travels,  but  I  never  was  so  impressed  with  any 
sight  as  this.  The  oldest  tribes  of  Indians  can  give  no 
reason  for  the  existence  of  this  mound.  America  at 
one  time  suffered  the  righteous  judgment  of  God  as 
it  is  written,  "In  wrath  I  smote  thee,  but  in  my  favor 
I  had  mercy  upon  thee."  How  much  reason  the  poor 
and  oppressed  have  to  thank  America,  God  only  knows. 
If  Jesus  Christ  was  to  go  in  person  to  England  now, 
He  would  not  be  treated  or  considered  a  gentleman. 
There  a  man's  money — no  matter  how  he  got  it — lifts 
him  up  to  respectability.  Men  who  earn  their  living 
as  God  commanded,  "By  the  sweat  of  their  faces,"  are 
only  laboring  men.  Labor  is  there  considered  a  ban 
to  respect.  America  was  fast  becoming  the  snob  that 
England  is  in  her  cast  idea.  "But  every  tree  that  my 
Heavenly  Father  hath  not  planted  shall  be  rooted  up." 
The  very  fact  that  William  Taft,  the  infidel,  has  been 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  399 

elected  by  Christian  America,  will  cause  a  revolution 
at  the  ballot-box  by  the  condemnation  this  will  bring 
upon  the  church.  This  will  cause  the  voter  to  consider 
moral  issues  hitherto  left  out. 

I  have  purchased  a  tract  of  land  in  the  Ozark  moun 
tains,  in  Boon  county,  Arkansas,  near  Alpena  Pass.  I 
will  have  on  it  a  flock  of  sheep.  My  home  town  is 
thirty-five  miles  from  Eureka  Springs.  I  have  selected 
this  place  for  the  home  of  my  old  age  for  several  rea 
sons.  I  have  never  seen  any  place  so  desirable  for  old 
people  as  well  as  people  in  ill  health.  There  are  more 
people  there  who  look  younger  than  their  years,  than 
I  imagined  were  any  place.  The  water  there  is  the 
purest,  the  scenery  is  not  surpassed  and  the  mountain 
air  is  life-giving.  This  is  a  health  resort  of  the  sub 
stantial  type.  The  hospitality  of  the  people  is  spoken 
of  by  so  many.  I  cordially  invite  the  world  to  come. 
My  latch  string  is  out.  The  farm  I  have  named,  "High 
land  Home  Farm,"  in  honor  of  my  Highland  Scotch 
ancestry;  it  is  located  on  the  mountains.  I  shall  go 
here  in  the  summer  time  when  I  can  spend  a  season 
where  I  can  have  the  vegetables,  flowers,  and  ani 
mals,  that  were  the  companions  of  my  youth,  where 
I  could  look  at  the  rocks  and  the  trees,  and  drink  the 
water  from  the  springs.  I  believe  the  mountains  of 
the  Ozarks  to  be  the  future  health  resorts  of  this  coun 
try.  The  secular  press  is  reporting  the  fact  that  I  have 
gone  into  retirement  to  enjoy  the  money  I  have  accum 
ulated.  This  is  a  misstatement,  as  I  have  a  more  ac 
tive  campaign  for  the  summer  than  I  ever  had  before. 
From  the  first  of  July  to  the  last  of  August  I  have  been 
secured  for  thirty  Chautauqua  lectures  by  S.  M.  Hollo- 


400  THE   USE   AND   NEED  OF 

day  of  the  Midland  Bureau  of  Des  Moines,  Iowa.  I 
promised  to  return  to  Britain  next  November,  yet 
after  considering  the  matter  I  think  it  best  that  I 
should  call  in  that  promise  and  rest  in  the  winter  and 
work  in  the  summer. 

I  feel  now  that  this  great  wave  of  Prohibition  that 
is  sweeping  over  the  whole  land  propelled  by  a  mighty 
power  of  public  sentiment  will  go  on  and  on,  until  na 
tional  Prohibition  will  be  the  ultimate  outcome,  and 
seeing  that  younger  people  are  taking  up  the  work, 
I  can,  with  a  good  conscience,  retire  when  weary  to 
my  mountain  home,  where  we  have  the  old  fashioned 
fire  places,  where  the  simple  life,  the  delightful  life, 
the  country  life,  is  there  in  all  its  fullness  with  tame 
fruit  in  abundance,  and  wild  grapes  hanging  in  my 
riads  of  clusters  in  the  gorgeous  colored  forest  trees. 
There  the  persimmons  also  are  plenteous  and  walnuts 
and  hickory  nuts.  The  cool,  refreshing,  pure  water  that 
trickles  from  the  wayside  springs  to  quench  our  thirst, 
is  a  boon  to  the  traveler,  and  lastly,  but  not  least,  the 
good  hearted  people  there,  that  are  ready  to  receive  all 
that  would  desire  to  build  a  home,  and  reap  the  reward 
of  honest  toil. 

I  have  not  up  to  this  last  year,  made  the  provision 
for  help  in  old  age  that  I  should  have.  I  visited  dear 
Mother  Stewart  a  few  weeks  before  her  death,  and  she, 
after  her  long  life  of  sacrifice  and  service,  had  not 
made  the  provision  for  her  needs.  I  shall  secure  for 
myself  a  competency  so  as  not  to  be  a  burden,  but  noth- 
.ing  more.  If  God  prospers  me  financially  the  cause  of 
prohibition  will  be  furthered  by  the  money  I  have  at 
my  command. 

25 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  401 

I  pray  the  readers  to  use  my  book  as  a  missionary. 
Hand  it  around,  don't  let  it  lie  idle. 

Voters  ask  yourself  this  question  before  you  cast 
your  ballot,  (that  ballot  that  makes  you  a  ruler  and  the 
president  a  servant)  :  "Will  this  ballot  demand  moral 
ity  or  immorality?"  Have  in  your  mind  this  picture, 
the  home  where  your  mother,  sister,  wife  and  children 
are.  the  school  and  the  church ;  then  look  at  the  bitter 
est  foe  to  these  divine  institutions,  the  license  saloon, 
with  its  companion  houses,  gambling  and  s-iame.  Then 
ask  which  side  on  this  ballot  will  decide.  There  is  but 
one  ballot  that  demands  a  moral  issue,  that  is  the  one 
that  prohibits  the  saloon.  Republican  voter  your  party 
does  not  intend  to  prohibit  saloons.  Then  you  do  not. 
The  republican  party  intends  to  license  saloons.  So 
do  you.  When  republican  and  democratic  voters  say 
they  do  not  want  saloons  they  proclaim  themselves 
fools  to  persist  in  voting  for  what  they  do  not  want. 
Brewers  and  distillers  vote  sensibly  when  they  are  re 
publicans.  They  get  what  they  want  that  way.  The 
homes  of  voters  are  consumed  and  the  prohibition 
voter  is  the  only  one  that  will  rescue.  The  prohibition 
voters  come  to  rescue  your  own  son  from  the  death 
trap  you  are  opening  for  him.  He  is  here  to  prevent 
the  wrecks  your  ballot  makes.  What  a  harvest  of  ruin 
will  be  yours  at  last,  when  you  go  where  your  results 
go.  "God  is  not  mocked,  for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth 
that  shall  he  also  reap."  O,  God  bless  this  message 
and  bring  a  conviction  and  remove  to  all  but  prohibi 
tion  voters. 

Proper  investigation  will  prove  to  all  (who  are  will 
ing  to  be  convinced)  that  it  pays  in  every  imaginable 


402  THE    USE  AND    NEED   OF 

and  conceivable  way  to  be  without  liquor  dealers  in  any 
town.  The  most  amusing  thing  to  the  Prohibition 
party  now  is  the  way  the  Texas  Brewers  Association 
in  a  recent  meeting  at  Galveston  offer  $100,000  to 
charity  if  they  fail  to  prove  that  more  liquor  is  sold  in 
prohibition  territory  than  in  the  wet  districts,  and  this 
claim  is  made  by  liquor  men  'in  many  sections.  Now 
if  this  is  true,  pray  will  somebody  tell  us  why  that  ele 
ment  is  spending  so  much  time  and  money  in  trying  to 
keep  this  whole  country  wet?  Why  are  the  whisky 
men  so  driven  to  desperation  by  the  steady  advance  of 
prohibition?  This,  we  must  confess,  is  a  problem  too 
hard  for  us  to  solve.  We  give  below  what  The  Marcus 
(la.)  News,  edited  by  Rev.  Chas.  Freeman,  says  about 
it: 

"The  above  reminds  us  of  a  story  concerning  an  in 
fidel  who  was  always  declaring  'there  is  nothing  in 
Christianity.'  One  Sunday  the  minister  of  the  village 
said  in  his  sermon  that  in  ten  minutes  he  could  prove 
that  any  man  who  made  such  a  statement  was  a  fool. 
The  infidel  heard  of  it  and  called  on  the  minister  when 
the  following  conversation  took  place : 

"Minister — 'So  you  say  there  is  nothing  in  Chris 
tianity,  do  you  ?' 

"Infidel — 'Yes,  sir ;  there  is  nothing,  absolutely  noth 
ing  in  it.  I  have  been  lecturing  against  Christianity 
for  fifteen  years  and  I  know  there  is  nothing,  absolute 
ly  nothing  in  it.' 

"Then  it  was  the  minister's  turn  as  he  said  to  him, 
'Well,  if  a  man  will  spend  fifteen  years  lecturing 
against  something  that  is  nothing — if  he  isn't  a  fool, 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.    NAT.ON.  403 

where  would  you  go  to  find  one?    Sir,  I  have  kept  my 
word  and  have  eight  minutes  left.' 

"Just  so,  if  prohibition  don't  prohibit  and  if  more 
liquor  is  sold  and  drank  in  prohibition  territory  than 
in  places  where  license  obtains,  are  not  these  Texas 
liquor  dealers  a  set  of  fools  to  be  fighting  the  move 
ment  so  hard?  Seems  to  us  they  would  be  eager  to 
see  prohibition  become  not  only  state  wide,  but  world 
wide,  but  the  fact  is  they  are  lying  when  they  say  pro 
hibition  don't  prohibit,  and  the  bluff  they  are  putting 
up  in  Texas  you  may  be  sure  has  a  loophole  where 
they  will  crawl  out  when  the  time  comes  for  them  to 
put  up  the  $100,000." 

And  now  in  closing  this  last  chapter  of  my  book  I 
can  say  to  humanity,  that  I  feel  grateful  for  their  many 
kind  words  and  deeds,  expressions  of  gratitude  for  the 
imperfect  way  in  which  I  have  served  you.  I  can  see 
where  I  have  made  grievous  mistakes,  they  were  of 
the  head  and  not  of  the  heart.  Yet  exceeding  all  this 
is  the  gratitude  I  owe  to  God  for  using  me  on  behalf 
of  the  motherhood  to  rescue  the  boy. 

My  address  now  is  Eureka  Springs,  Arkansas.  Let 
ters  will  reach  me  there,  and  anyone  wanting  this  book 
can  get  it  by  sending  $1.00  for  best  edition  and  50  cts. 
for,  the  cheaper  one. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  405 

SHE'S  COMING  ON  THE  FREIGHT. 

OR  THE  JOINT   KEEPER'S  DILEMMA. 

Say,  Billy,  git  ten  two-by-four 

'Nd  twenty  six-by-eight, 
'Nd  order  from  the  hardware  store 

Ten  sheets  of  boiler  plate, 
'Nd  'phone  the  carpenter  to  come 

Most  mighty  quick — don't  wait,  s 
For  there's  a  story  on  the  streets 

She's  coming  on  the  freight. 

O,  many  years  I've  carried  on 

My  business  in  this  town ; 
I've  helped  elect  its  officers, 

From  mayor  Dram  clear  down ; 
'Ive  let  policemen,  fer  a  wink, 

Get  jags  here  every  day; 
Say,  Billy,  get  a  move  on,  fer 

She's  headed  right  this  way. 

I  don't  mind  temperance  meetin's 

When  they  simply  resolute, 
Fer  after  all  their  efforts  bring 

But  mighty  little  fruit; 
But  when  crowbars  and  hatchets 

'Nd  hand  axes  fill  the  air — 
Say,  Billy,  git  that  boiler  iron 

Across  the  window  there! 

It  beats  the  nation — no,  I  think 
The  Nation's  beatin'  me, 


406  THE   USE   AND   NEED   Ol* 

When  I  can  pay  a  license  here 

And  still  not  sell  it  free; 
Per  I  must  keep  my  customers 

Outside  'nd  make  'em  wait, 
Because  the  story's  got  around 

She's  comin'  on  the  freight. 

There,  Billy,  now  we've  got  her — 

Six-eights  across  the  door, 
'Nd  solid  half-inch  boiler  iron 

Where  plate  glass  showed  before ; 
But,  Billy,  before  that  freight  arrives 

Ye'd  better  take  a  pick 
'Nd  pry  that  cellar  window  loose, 

So  we  can  git  out  quick. 

— ED.  BLAIR. 


A  WOMAN. 
(Dedicated  to  Mrs.  Carry  Nation.) 

When  Kansas  joints  are  open  wide 
To  ruin  men  on  every  side, 
What  power  can  stem  their  lawless  tide  ? 
A  woman. 

When  many  mother's  hearts  have  bled 
And  floods  of  sorrow's  tears  are  shed, 
Who  strikes  the  serpent  on  the  head? 
A  woman. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  407 

When  boys  are  ruined  every  day 
And  older  ones  are  led  astray, 
Who  boldly  strikes  and  wins  the  fray? 
A  woman. 

When  drunkenness  broods  o'er  the  home, 
For  bidding  pleasure  there  to  come, 
Whose  hatchet  spills  the  jointist's  rum? 
A  woman. 

When  rum's  slain  victims  fall  around, 
And  vice  and  poverty  abound, 
Who  cuts  this  up  as  to  the  ground  ? 
A  woman. 

When  those  who  should  enforce  the  law 
Are  useless  as  are  men  of  straw, 
What  force  can  make  saloons  withdraw  ? 
A  woman. 

When  public  sentiment  runs  low, 
And  no  one  dares  to  make  them  go, 
Whose  hatchet  lays  their  fixtures  low  ? 
*A  woman. 

Who  sways  this  mighty  rising  tide 
That  daily  grows  more  deep  and  wide, 
Until  no  rum  shall  it  outride  ? 

A  woman. 

Who  then  can  raise  her  fearless  hand, 
And  say  'twas  "Home  Defender's"  band 
Who  drove  this  monster  from  the  land ! 

A  woman. 
— DR.  T.  J.  MERRYMAN. 


408  THE    USE   AND    NEED   OF 

THAT  LITTLE  HATCHET. 

The  world  reveres  brave  Joan  of  Arc, 
Whose  faith  inspired  her  fellow  man 
To  crush  invading  columns  dark. 
So,  modern  woman's  firmer  will 
To  conquer  crime's  unholy  clan, 
Crowns  her  man's  moral  leader  still. 


A  century  was  fading  fast, 
When  o'er  its  closing  decade  passed 
A  matron's  figure,  chaste,  yet  bold, 
Who  held  within  her  girdle's  fold 
A  bran'  new  hatchet. 

The  jointists  smiled  within  their  bars, 
'Mid  bottles,  mirrors  and  cigars — 
The  woman  passed  behind  each  screen, 
And  soon  occurred  a  "literal"  scene — 
Rum,  ruin,  racket! 

At  first  she  "moral  suasion"  tried, 
But  lawless  men  mere  "talk"  deride: — 
'Twas  then  she  seized  her  household  ax 
And  for  enforcing  law  by  acts, 

Found  nought  to  match  it. 

The  work  thus  wrought  with  zeal  discreet, 
Has  saved  that  town  from  rum  complete  ; 
Proving  that  woman's  moral  force 
Like  man's,  is  held,  as  last  resource, 
By  sword  or  hatchet. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  409 

And  following  up  that  dauntless  raid, 
The  nation  welcomes  her  crusade ; 
All  o'er  the  land,  pure  women  charmed, 
Are  eager  forming,  each  one  armed 

With  glittering  hatchets. 

Talk  of  "defenders  of  the  nation!" 
Woman's  slight  arm  sends  consternation 
'Mong  its  worst  foes,  on  social  fields, 
Worse  than  the  "Mauser,"  when  she  wields 
The  "smashing"  hatchet. 

Mohammed  sought  by  arts  refined, 
To  raise  his  standard  o'er  mankind ; 
But  found  success  for  aye  denied, 
Until  at  length  he  boldly  tried 
The  battle-hatchet. 

When  soon  his  power  imperial,  shone 
O'er  countless  tribes,  in  widening  zone ; 
And  wine  was  banished  from  the  board 
Of  Moslem  millions,  by  the  sword 
And  victor's  hatchet. 

So  may  it  be  with  this  great  nation, 
When  woman  tests  her  high  vocation ; 
Persuasion  proves  a  futile  power 
To  quell  the  joints,  but  quick  they  cower. 
At  the  whirling  hatchets. 

True  chivalry  must  come  again, 
And  men,  more  noble,  but  less  vain, 


410  THE   USE  AND   NEED  OF 

Responding  to  its  modern  sense, 
Guard  woman,  while  in  self-defense 
She  plies  her  hatchet. 

When  honor  bright  appeals  to  men 
"The  weak  confounds  the  mighty,"  then 
Side  doors  and  slot-machines  must  close 
And  such  games  hide,  when  women  pose 
With  sharpened  hatchets. 

'Else  are  men  brutes,  and  all  their  pride 
And  gallant  valor,  they  must  hide 
In  coward  shirking.    This  shameful  end 
They  must  accept,  or  else  defend 

The  "home-guard"  hatchet. 

'Tis  woman's  crucial,  fateful  hour, 
Her  fine  soul's  test,  'gainst  man's  coarse  power. 
In  war,  she  can  not  be  man's  peer, 
But  for  home's  weal,  all  men  sincere 
Bow  to  her  hatchet. 

Man's  "Vigilance"  is  oft  condoned, 
When  Vice  and  Crime  has  been  enthroned. 
Shall  women  then,  be  more  to  blame, 
When  she  in  Virtue's  sacred  name 
Raises  her  hatchet? 

'Tis  she  must  grasp  the  nation's  prize — 
A  pure,  proud  home,  earth's  paradise. 
The  joints  must  go,  but,  never  till 
Woman  exerts  her  potent  will 
And  holy  hatchet. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.  NATION.  411 

As  men,  once  slaves,  their  freedom  gained 
By  force,  and  power  at  length  attained ; 
So,  cultured  brains  and  force  combined, 
Shall  mark  the  sphere  of  womankind 
And  surely  reach  it. 

In  valor,  more  Joan  d'Arc's  are  needed, 
Woman's  high  social  power's  conceded, 
But  she  herself,  must  blaze  the  path 
To  public  morals,  by  her  own  worth 
And  "Little  Hatchet." 

— C.  BUTLER-ANDREWS. 


Dr.  Howard  Russell  told  in  his  address  at  Kokomo, 
Sunday,  March  24,  how  when  Mrs.  Nation  was  on  her 
way  from  Topeka  to  Peoria  recently,  a  passenger  on 
the  same  train  came  into  the  car  where  she  was  and 
sang  a  song  of  his  own  composition.  He  was  evident 
ly  a  farmer  with  a  large  stock  of  mother-wit.  He  was 
lame,  and  limped  into  the  car,  and  hopped  up  and 
down  while  he  sang.  A  great  deal  of  merry  enthus 
iasm  was  aroused,  and  the  car,  packed  full  of  people, 
expressed  their  appreciation  by  round  after  round  of 
applause.  It  is  evident  that  Mrs.  Nation  is  quite  pop 
ular  in  that  part  of  the  country. 

The  song  is  as  follows : 

Hurrah,  Samantha,  Mrs.  Nation  is  in  town! 
So  get  on  your  bonnet  and  your  Sunday-meeting  gown 
Oh,  I  am  so  blamed  excited  I  am  hopping  up  and  down 
Hurrah,  Samantha,  Carrie  Nation  is  in  town! 


412  THE    USE  AND   NEED  OF 

Get  yon  ready,  we  are  going  to  the  city, 

Where  the  "Home  Defenders"  are  all  feeling  gay, 

And  the  mothers  all  exclaiming,  "Its  a  pity 

That  Carrie  Nation  does  not  come  here  every  day." 

I  want  to  hear  that  mirror-smashing  music, 
And  to  look  in  Mrs.  Nation's  blessed  face, 

And  to  see  the  saloon  men  all  cavorting 

With  that  hatchet  bring  sadness  to  their  face. 

Hurrah,  Samantha,  Mrs.  Nation  is  in  town! 
So  wear  your  brightest  bonnet  and  your  alapaca  gown. 
Oh,  I  am  so  jubilated  I'm  a  hopping  up  and  down, 
Hurrah !  Hurrah !  Samantha,  Mrs.  Nation  is  in  town. 


'GOD  BLESS  OUR  CARRIE  NATION.3 

May  she  live  to  see  the  day, 
When  the  liquor  traffic  will  be  no  more, 
When  the  traffic  of  the  devil 
Will  all  be  swept  away, 
And  God's  peace  remain  supreme  from 
shore  to  shore. 

God  bless  the  hatchet  wielder, 

May  it  never  cease  to  strike, 

Till  it  drives  the  cursed  intemperance 

from  our  land; 

Let  us  stand  for  God  and  duty, 
Till  we  gain  the  Eden  of  beauty, 
And  be  what  God  designed  for  us, 
A  happy  union  band. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CARRY  A.   NATION.  413 

God  bless  our  Carrie  Nation, 
Give  her  courage,  strength,  and  might, 
To  go  forth  in  former  battlements  ar 
rayed, 

Till  this  cursed  intemperance, 
Will  be  driven  from  our  shore, 
From  every  village,    hamlet    and    the 
glade. 

O,  God,  raise  up  a  million, 

Of  our  Carrie  Nation  minds, 

That  they  may  fight  for  freedom,  from 

the  thrall. 

Let's  join  our  hands  with  Carrie 
And  do  not  let  us  tarry, 
Oh,  let  us  toil  for  Jesus  one  and  all. 


THE  HATCHET  CRUSADE. 
(Dedicated  to  Mrs.  Carry  Nation.) 

Oh,  woman,  armed  with  one  little  hatchet, 

Fighting  for  justice  and  right, 
And  with  your  brave  mother  courage 

Knowing  your  cause  was  right, 

You've  done  more  to  hasten  God's  kingdom, 
And  to  crush  satan's  power  o'er  men, 

Than  countless  numbers  of  creation's  lords, 
With  the  power  of  the  ballot  thrown  in. 


414  THE    USE   AND   NEED  OF 

You've  awakened  the  mothers  to  action 
Whose  powers  have  long  dormant  been, 

While  the  minions  of  satan  have  strained  every 

nerve 
To  ruin  our  boys  and  our  men. 

Rouse,  mothers,  too  long  we've  been  sleeping, 

Shall  one  of  us  let  it  be  said 
That  we  calmly  stood  by  while  those  who    are 
dear, 

Were  down  to  destruction  led. 

American  mothers,  hear  me, 

If  you  think  God  will  not  send  the  warning 
In  hieroglyphics  upon  the  wall  ? 

God  is  not  mocked,  He  is  just  the  same, 
And  has  given  the  power  to  you. 

If  you're  weighed  and  found  wanting  our  nation 

will  fall 
Because  you  did  not  your  duty  do. 

Then  let  us  unfurl  our  broad  banners, 
Fling  their  folds  to  the  breezes  high, 

Let  this  still  be  our  motto, 

"We'll  trust  in  God,  and  keep  our  powder  dry." 
— CARRIE  CHEW  SNEDON. 


HV 


A/3 

At 


